The Man in Black
by orthankg1
Summary: Oliver died on Lian Yu, years later an Earthquake levels the glades, and Sara, Slade, and Shado have been licking their wounds for months with nothing to do. Crime is on the out, and Malcolm is leading the charge to rebiuld. But somthing is happening in Starling, there is a new player in town, but, is he a friend or a foe? And why is he helping them, what is his plan?
1. Chapter 1: The Man in Black

**The Man in Black.**

 _The miracle had failed. Slade was dead. And now Oliver, Shado, and Sara were at the mercy of a madman as Ivo and his men burst into the compartment._

 _Ivo spotted Sara, standing frozen by the door. He grabbed her arm and shoved her towards Oliver and Shado. "Get over there!" He shined his light down on Slade and knelt down. He slowly reached towards his body and felt for a pulse, but found none. He noted the bloody tears, then saw the empty syringe on the ground and picked it up. He was examining it when the new captain walked back into the compartment, the wooden crate in his hand. "Mirakuru." He said, rising to examine the box. He looked at the rows of syringes in wonder. Then turned back to his men. "Take them." He ordered._

 _A short time later the group was walking back through the forest towards the Amazo. Oliver, Shado, and Sara all had their hands bound behind them, and Ivo led Sara at gunpoint personally._

" _Anthony, you got what you wanted. You can let them go." Sara said, trying to reason with the man. She turned back to face him. "If you ever cared about me." She pleaded._

" _But I do care about you, Sara," Ivo said. "Which is why I won't choose to kill you." Sara blinked as Ivo's insanity came to the front. "But he might."_

 _Oliver, who had stopped with the rest, looked at the doctor in confusion as he forced both Sara and Shado to their knees._

" _What are you talking about?" Oliver asked in dread._

" _Time to choose, Oliver," Ivo said with insane glee. "Who lives, and who dies. But pick quickly, because, in 30 seconds, I will shoot them both." Oliver stared at the two women in horror._

" _You don't have to do this!" Oliver exclaimed. "You got what you came for! Just take it and go!"_

 _Ivo pointed the gun at Shado's head. "10 Seconds."_

" _You freaking psychopath!" Oliver shouted._

" _History will make that judgment." He moved the gun to Sara "Five seconds." Oliver stared at the two women, torn. "Time's up." Ivo raised the gun._

" _No, no!" Oliver ran in front of Sara, dropping to his knees in front of her. "Me, kill me."_

" _I guess you made your choice." Ivo said coldly, then turned the gun on Shado._

 _But Oliver jumped again, and he was just fast enough._

 _To take a bullet square in the chest, going through bone, his left lung, and his spine._

 _And he went down listening to his friends screaming his name._

 _On the sub, Slade suddenly awakened, fully healed._

" _Shado…" he looked around. Suddenly, he knew she was in trouble. "Shado!"_

 _Slade ran up the sail and back to land, running through the woods at incredible speed. He arrived at the small clearing and grabbed the first man he saw, throwing him back against a tree where he nearly folded in half. Slade attacked the other two men, killing them with his bare hands as Ivo fled into the forest. He stared down at the AK-47 he had taken off of one of the soldiers, then snapped it in half like it was a twig. The new captain clubbed him on the back with the butt of his rifle, but all that did was piss Slade off even more. Slade punched the man through the chest, then withdrew his hand and let the man drop to the ground, dead. Shado and Sara looked on in shocked horror as Slade stared at his bloodied fist._

 _He then looked at them, smiling for a brief moment at seeing Shado alive, and while Sara wasn't his friend, he knew the kid would be pissed if she were hurt._

 _Wait, where was Oliver?_

 _He then looked down and saw his answer._

 _"Kid. Kid!" Slade yelled, diving down and grabbing onto Oliver's body, tearing his shirt off to examine the wound. "Come on Oliver, get up, get up!" Slade yelled._

 _But Oliver didn't move._

 _"Get up, come on. Get up you selfish bastard. You get up right now, or I swear I will hurt you!"_

 _But his eyes didn't move, just staring off into the dead void of space._

 _Slade would always deny it, but others would say he jumped when Shado put a hand on him._

 _"Why?" The big, gruff Australian said, the reassuring iron in his voice breaking under the weight of the body in his arms._

 _"Ivo wanted him to choose." Sara said, drawing his attention. "He wanted Oliver to live with choosing which one of us died tonight," Sara said, trying to talk through the tears. "He jumped in front of both of us, he asked Ivo to kill him."_

 _Slade set Olive down with a gentleness none would have though he possessed, then he broke both girl's restraints and hugged them to him. "I will find Ivo, and on my life, if it takes every day of my life to do it, he will pay."_

* * *

Five years later.

* * *

"Hello and good morning Starling city. 6 months after the devastating earthquake that leveled a good portion of the city, particularly the Glades, Merlin Global and Queen Consolidated are leading the charge in rebuilding, already having put up several temporary housing complexes that could house some 2000 people. Staying at the R&R Towers as they are being called is free, provided residence allow for a 10 P.M. curfew and a thorough background check. When asked, Malcolm Merlin, C.E.O. of Merlin Global, had this to say."

 _"I don't look at what happened as a senseless tragedy, but as a necessary reminder, given to us by some higher power. The Glades, whether we admitted it to ourselves or not, was a squalor, a place of disease. Not of the body, or the mind, but the city. A place where crime could thrive where the poor had their throats stepped on by men and women out to make a quick buck, no matter how the cost. The quake was a reset. When a building burns down because it was faulty, you don't rebuild it the same way, you improve it, find out what caused the problem, and you don't repeat it. The Glades burned down, and while the loss of life was unfortunate, the true travesty would be to have let them die, only to have those who survive be forced to return to the same sad state of before."_

"Mr. Merlin and Mr. Walter Steele, C.E.O. of Queen Consolidated, have both outlined a detailed plan to restore all the survivors of the quake to homes in the next 3 years, along with improved parks, schools, hospitals, and other recreation and public offices. Promising every opportunity to be made, as long as, and this is a quote from Mr. Merlin himself, "They aren't criminals." This is Gena Wolf, with your morning news, back to you Jeff."

"Thank you, Gena. With me now is Mark Jonson, an expert in criminology, and Ronald Dean, one of the many experts who has been helping Haiti rebuild after the earthquake back in 2010. Mark, does Merlin's statement ring true, should we look at this tragedy as maybe a gift from God?"

"Well Jeff, I wouldn't say that, but in some ways Merlin is right. The Glades has long been the ugly mole on the face of the city, a place people just pushed to the side and pretended didn't exist. It wasn't until last year, with the rise of the three vigilantes, who sources say may have died trying to help get people out of the rubble, that the glades got any attention. Gunfire, drug use, rape, stabbings, these were all just another Saturday night in the Glades, I once heard it said, 'the cops don't come tell the third bodies dropped.' Now, people have no choice but to try and help fix this part of the city that was left to die, and as Merlin is the one doing the most good in the Glades, if he says to keep the criminals out, he's allowed to say it, and he's not wrong."

"What about one time offenders, or simple purse snatchers, do you think they should be kept out?"

"No, but I do think his idea, if applied to the third, fourth, fifth, and so one offender, or the rapist or a murderer, I'd say it does hold water as a way to help people."

"Thank you, Mark. Ronald, do you think this is all a good idea, rebuilding the Glades is good, but if Merlin and Steele get their way, the property value of the Glades will, and I admit I had to look this up, decuple. What does that mean for those who will be struggling even more now, if the only land now is ten times the price it was?"

"Well, Jeff, both Merlin and Steele have publicly promised that for the first five years of this project, during the rebuilding project and after, they want to hire people to live and work in the glades to rebuild it. Sort of an "if you work, you stay" kind of deal. So housing will be free or those working to restore the Glades, along with free housing for students at the schools they hope to build. Plus, if this plan succeeds, there will be more and better jobs in the glades then there have been in years. And with people in the Glades being trained to fill those jobs, they might not be struggling for long. And with free housing, they could save money, live healthier lives. They have also said they plan to keep rent low for five years after that before recalculating it and even then keeping the price low. In ten years, we might be looking at a city where people want to move into the Glades because it's the better part of town."

"Thank you, Ronald. Mark, back to what you said earlier, I know we are getting a little off track, but what do you think of the Vigilantes, some called them heroes, others called them crazy murderers. What is your take?"

"Well, during their time, there are some undeniable facts about them. First, they killed people, a fair number of them. But most agree that they never just killed as their opening move, always giving a person a chance to, for lack of a better term, make up for what they did. Second, they helped a lot of people. Third, they did have a noticeable and quantifiable effect on the criminals of the Glades. So they were, all in all, an unorthodox, but a very real force for good."

"Do you really think they died?"

"Honestly, I wouldn't place money on it either way."

* * *

A man in black stood on a rooftop of a skyscraper, looking over the city with a keen eye, except he wasn't, because the wrap around his head had no eye holes, merely a single opening for his mouth. And yet he saw so much.

When he had finished, he moved the cloth back over his mouth, unveiling two silver eyes.

And then he jumped.

* * *

Malcolm surveyed the plans, they were brilliant.

"Walter, we might be nearly ready to move forward."

"Thank you, Malcolm."

"If this works, we might just have to build you both a new bookcase for all the awards they will be giving you both." Frank Chen said, walking over to hand them both a glass of scotch.

"Don't start talking like that Frank, their egos are already big enough, thank you." Moira said, accepting a drink.

"How long before we can reveal our involvement?" Susan Marks asked.

"Patience my friends. I told you all, six months ago, when the ground shook, I realized that something big had happened. And when I came to you all with my plan, you all told me it was crazy."

"It was." Marcus Weaver said.

"Exactly, but you all put your faith in me. Just keep going a little longer. People jump on bandwagons all at once all the time when something happens, and then a week later, they all leave, people are like sheep that way. But if people think that this plan to rebuild the Glades is slowly winning the elites of the city over, then even those with reservations about the plan will go along with it just to be seen as intelligent."

"They have to see people being won over, to see that there is something there." Walter said.

"Exactly. Frank will announce joining with us, pledging 5 million to the cause next week, two weeks after that, Susan, then Marcus, then Paul. And before you know it, we will have lots more joining on."

"Brilliant." Walter said, raising his glass in a toast.

Some of the group felt awkward, especially Moira, having Walter cheer Malcolm on. He was the only member of the group who didn't know how the earthquake happened, but that was good as Walter could be seen as the genuine face of this rebuilding project.

"Walter, I wonder if you could do me a favor." Malcolm asked.

"What is it?" Walter said, giving Malcolm one of his British smiles.

"I wonder if you could take the reins for a while with this."

The whole group was rather shocked. Walter because he thought this project was Malcolm's baby, and the rest because they knew it was his crazed ambition.

"As some of you know, Tommy and I have not been on the best of terms this last year, and it was only after the quake, when he had no choice but to move in because of injuries, and saw all the good I was trying to do, that we started to actually reconnect. To be honest, it's the first time in years that we felt, close. I want to spend a month or two, just, focusing on my relationship with my son. But I need to know that there is someone here that shares my ideals about this project, and I think that is you."

Walter, just smiled at the man. "Malcolm, I'd be honored to take over for you, for a while."

"Thank you." Malcolm then had someone refill their glasses. "To Walter Steele, a man of vision, and principles."

"To Walter." The room cheered.

And then there was gunfire.

Both Walter and Malcolm dived for Moira, Malcolm shielding Walter who was shielding Moira. They then looked up to see the man who had served the scotch a moment ago dead, and men in masks coming into the room.

"Mr. Merlin, you're trying to kill the Triad's business." One of the men said.

Malcolm, never one to back down, stood up, positioning himself still between the men and the Queens. "So, I take it this is an endorsement of my plans?"

"What?"

"Well, if you lowlifes are this desperate to stop me, must be doing something right."

The men just grabbed him, forcing his hand onto the table, and one of them took out a butcher's knife.

Malcolm was just thinking. The man with the butcher's knife had a bad knee, the one to his left was a righty, and the one on his right had a switchblade in his back pocket. Kick the man's knee, then head but the one grabbing his left arm, catch the knife, stab, stab, stab, then shoot the other three while they are confused.

Not a great plan, sloppy, but he needed it to look that way.

Or, losing an arm might make things a little awkward. But it could garner sympathy, constant reminder and all that.

But then again, so could saving everyone.

Plus, losing an arm would suck.

But then the glass shattered, and a man in black came in.

A man in League of Assassins black.

The attackers turned to look, only for all three of the men holding Malcolm to be met with a blade cutting their heads off, in one stroke. The man then threw two flechettes at two of the other men, killing them. He then jumped up and brought his blade down, killing the last man, by cutting him in two.

The man in black then looked at Malcolm, before jumping out the window he had come in.

Well, that was unexpected.

* * *

Slade, Sara, and Shado were sitting in Slade and Shado's apartment, looking at the news.

For a year they had been vigilantes, fighting the good fight. But when the quake hit, and they scrambled to try and help get people out, and they had not left there unscathed.

Slade healed fast, but Sara and Shado didn't, so for three months they were licking their wounds, but now there didn't seem like there was anything to do.

The police handled crime well, having gotten some generous grants from Merlin Global and QC, and in the glades, well; nothing happened there anymore because there was no place to do anything, no place to hide. You could walk a mile from anywhere in any direction without finding one brick on top of another. And the buildings that were set up, the R&R Towers, were heavily monitored for anything going on.

So, they were, for lack of a better term, retired. They were thought dead by the public, and with nothing to do, caring for family seemed more important.

But this, a report of a man in black, could it be the Dark Archer again.

The first time they had met him, was during the Christmas hostage situation, and then some reports of a man in black were reported months later, him having destroyed a lab and killed a lot of scientists.

But why come back now, and why save people.

* * *

"Dad." Tommy said, limping into the sitting room at the Queen estate where several officers and Captain Lance were taking statements. Tommy had decided to be an idiot the night of the quake and ran into CNRI to save Laurel who was trapped under a bookcase. They both would have died that night if not for one of the vigilantes, the Man in the Mask, a big orange and black mask. He ran into the room just as some of the roof was about to crush both Laurel and Tommy, and, they had no idea how managed to lift it up and away from them.

They had run like heck, Tommy getting a piece of rebar in his left knee and a bit of rubble to the head, but they both got out.

They didn't know if the man had been so lucky, they just knew that the whole building had collapsed inward a few moments after they got out.

But no body was ever recovered.

Laurel had been working at the D.A.'s office for the last 4 months, and Tommy had moved in with his father so he could have round the clock care. Tommy's and Malcolm's relationship was slowly on the mend.

"I'm fine Tommy. Not even a scratch on me."

"You could have been killed."

"No son, loss of limb maybe, but the people who wanted to do this wanted me to be a constant, living reminder that they weren't to be messed with."

Tommy just hugged him, something Malcolm readily accepted. He could count on 2 hands how any times his son had hugged him in the last 10 year, and more than half of them had been in the last 6 months. "Has anyone ever told you your attempts at reassurance could use some work."

"I've told him that several times." Moira said.

Tommy whipped around to face her. "Moira." He then hugged her in a death grip. "Please tell me they didn't touch you."

"I'm fine Tomas."

"We all are." Walter said, coming up to place a hand on his wife's shoulder.

"Mom, Dad!" Then Thea, Sara, Slade, and Shado came in. "Are you alright."

"Dear heavens, Moira, if I didn't know any better, I'd say our kids were worried about us." Malcolm said.

"We're okay Thea, and if I have to hear that question one more time tonight, I will be the one committing a felony."

"Do you know who attacked you?" Slade asked.

"Triad, unhappy with my anti-crime stance."

"And the person who saved you, I heard on the news it sounded like the man from Christmas."

"Whoever he was, I'm glad he came." Walter said.

"Can you give us any more details Malcolm."

"Just that he was well trained. I've known enough ex-special forces in my time to know that. He took down six assailants in under 3 seconds, managed to handle multiple targets in single strokes." Malcolm said calmly, but inside he was reeling. Even by League standers, what that man did was impressive, to be able to maintain momentum like that to slice through 3 people the moment he hit the ground, and he adjusted his blade while in mid stroke, moving it up and down while keeping it level to slice through the men's necks, which were different heights. And then to throw like that, the agility, the smoothness of the flip that cut the man in two. That was something that only someone who had studied for decades could pull off so effortlessly.

And to live that long, and be in that level of physical fitness, meant you needed the pit. And only certain individuals could use the pit, high-ranking, prominent members.

And they, they were only EVER, dispatched for very specific reasons.

"He had silver eyes." Moira said, drawing the attention of the room.

"What?" Both Malcolm and Walter asked.

"He looked at me, I'll never forget that look like he was peering into my soul, and those eyes, they were defiantly silver or a very bright gray."

"That is actually very helpful."

"How so detective?" Shado asked.

"Gray eyes are very rare. People who can use a sword and have gray eyes, probably even rarer." Lance then walked over to an officer. "Get in contact with every list any government agency has, Army personnel, persons of interest, sword fighting enthusiasts, find anyone who has gray eyes in that list and figure out where they are."

The officer nodded and walked off. "Don't worry, we will find this guy."

"To give him a medal I hope." Malcolm said.

"What?"

"Well, forgive me detective, but I happen to like this person, at the moment. His interference prevented me from having to learn how to be left handed."

"So you don't want me to capture this guy."

"Not at all, but do know that unless he is responsible for something other than breaking my windows and making it, so I need a cleaning service that handles blood, I don't intend on pressing charges. And should you catch him, I might just finance him a legal team."

"Ok then." Lance said, looking a little mad.

"Dad." Sara said. "I thought you liked the vigilantes after they saved Laurel."

"No, I slightly respect slash don't hate the Masked one because he rescued Laurel and is probably dead. I still don't want people trying to take the law into their own hands."

* * *

"And here I thought I had your dad's approval." Slade said as the team was suiting up.

"He's always believed the law was the only way, you don't shake that belief overnight." Sara said.

"And here I thought I was retired from this gig." Diggle said coming down the stairs.

Slade, after they had come home, had become the Queen's head of security, having hired Diggle himself for Thea's personal protection. After a run in with Dead Shot, Dig had been injured.

It took some convincing, but eventually the man joined in on the group's little side business. As well as providing security for the club Thea, Tommy, Sara, and Slade co-owned. Sara having thought a club was as good a cover as any for their base.

Plus, they were easy to launder money through to help with the vigilante-ing, just fake the numbers on the door charges, and charge $2 a song request.

They had called it Verdant, a private little monument to Oliver and Yao Fei, a way for them to be helping fight the good fight in spirit.

"Come on Dig, rebuilding the club could not be that much fun."

"Yeah, but it did have a certain relaxation to it."

"He has been board out of his mind." Felicity said from her computer. She had joined the group after helping with some techy things that the combined knowledge of the team couldn't, and then when she was kidnapped to help with some big cyber crime, the team had saved her, not without her being shot, and taken her back to the base to patch her up.

After that, she had become the go-to tech expert.

"So, you got anything?" Shado asked.

"Nothing. No reports or sightings in the city until now. And other than one ghost story from 4 years ago, nothing even remotely sounding like what this guy did."

"I've always loved ghost stories, let's hear it." Sara said.

"According to the report, The Danial's building in Miami was attacked sometime after 8 P.M. on July 5th, 2009. The NSA thought some big bad group was using the building, but no proof could be obtained, only the word H.I.V.E. was ever found. After the attack, all the computers were missing."

"So what happened?"

"That's where it gets scary. 600 men were in that building, all found with automatic weapons on them. The police recovered some 8000 shell casings, and only seven survivors found on different floors, tied up, with lots of bodies around them. They said that one man in black came and killed everyone."

"One man?" Slade asked, not sure if he was impressed or disbelieving.

"All seven witnesses were kept separate. All had different things to say. One said he was in the back of the room when a man in black came barreling in, killing the other seven people in the room in the blink of an eye. Then disarmed him and tied him up before he was even sure what happened, then he said: "Tell others, and especially your boss, never touch her again." And then the guy left."

"Her?"

"All seven of the men said the exact same thing, word for word. They also all said he was fast, strong, able to move like nothing they ever had ever seen before, and," Felicity stopped and pointed at the screen while turning to the group. "that he had silver eyes." Felicity then turned back to her reading. "They were all dead a week later when a garbage truck full of explosive slammed into the truck for prison transfer they were on, killing three other prisoners and two guards."

"Well, assuming this is true, and he's the same guy, what are you all going to do?" Dig asked.

"We find him of course." Slade said.

"Wow, you sure that's a good idea?" Felicity asked.

"Why wouldn't we?" Sara asked.

"Well, the guy hasn't actually done anything super wrong, at least, nothing you all haven't done yourselves." Felicity said.

"And if even half that report is accurate, are you sure that is the type of person you want to fight. Sounds to me like he's the kind of person you bring a tank for back up."

"That's why I'm here." Slade said. "And we can handle one swordsman."

"And I don't like the idea of another player in town."

* * *

A month later.

* * *

Unfortunately, said other player refused to show himself. A month spent looking under every rock, in every nook and cranny, and nothing to show for it. Other than the occasional drug dealer, but even they were rare these days.

And when there was any new activity, the Man in Black never showed up.

"Was it just a one-time thing?" Sara said, everyone throwing ideas around while sparing. "Like he was bored that night and said 'hay, this looks like fun.'"

"Maybe he's a hired gun, and one of the triad was a target. Hoping to make killing him by making it looked like an attempt to foil the attack on Merlin." Diggle said.

"Maybe he was a bodyguard. The old report did sound like he was protecting someone, the same way he was here." Felicity suggested from her computers.

"Well maybe…" But Shado was interrupted by a phone ringing.

And old Russian flip phone.

Sara went and answered it. "привет старый друг." (Hello old friend.)

"Anatoly. как дела?" (How are you?)

"Я был хорошо. я нахожусь в городе, думал, что мы могли бы наверстать упущенное. Знайте, в любом месте есть хорошая, настоящая русская еда." (I have been well. I'm in town, thought we might catch up. Know anywhere to eat good, authentic Russian food.)

"Я знаю только место." (I know just the place.)

* * *

"Thank you, Raisa, you are a life saver." Sara said. The woman having just finished making a very nice Russian meal at the apartment.

"Your welcome Ms. Lance. So, who is the lucky man."

"And old friend who lives in Russia, he's in town and thought he would stop by and say hi."

"Well, must be some friend for you to go to all this trouble. Even shooing Mr. Willson and Ms. Fie away." Raisa said with a smile. "Just make sure I meet him before your father does."

"Why is that." Sara thought, for a brief moment enjoying the look on her father's face if he ever met Anatoly, especially if he found out about his day job.

"I met all of Mr. Oliver's and Mr. Merlin's girls before their parents did, usually the morning after when I brought up a hangover cure. I expect to be allowed to judge this boy too."

And then Sara really had to try and not laugh. She had been up against drug lords, kingpins, corrupt tycoons, and assorted other unsavory characters, but Raisa was giving them all a run for their money concerning death glares.

"Ok, I promise if we get into a serious relationship, I'll drag him, kicking and screaming, straight to you."

"Good." And with a smile and a pat on the arm, Raisa left.

A half hour later, the head of the Bratva entered the room with a few bodyguards.

"Anatoly Knyazev." Sara said, throwing her arms open to hug the man. "It's been too long."

"Indeed it has my old friend." Anatoly said, taking off his coat, one of his men hung it up in the closet. "Nice place. A few too many windows for my taste, but still nice."

"Is it a problem?"

"No, but you never know who's listening, and might have a rifle."

"Watch this." And then Sara left, only to come back with a box. She opened it and pulled out a small device.

"Is that?"

"A girl has needs."

"Yes, but all you need is a short skirt, and you could have any man ready to help you."

"You're too kind." Sara then gathered up the box and walked over to the windows.

Anatoly didn't realize it before, but connected to the middle of each window was a bit of metal wire. The wires all led to a metal dish that Sara taped five of the toys to and then turned on. "The vibrations travel from the metal to the glass. It won't stop anyone from picking up the sound of us if we are shouting, but it works in a pinch."

"Very nice." Anatoly said.

"Thank you. We ordered a bulk batch of speakers we could attach to the windows permanently to do this, but they won't come until next week." Sara then motioned to the table. "Shall we eat?"

* * *

Organized crime had gotten word that some big Russian mucky-muck had come to town, and Captain Lance was more than happy to help.

He liked his promotion, the pay, the parking space, the better hours. But dear heavens, he loved being out in the field more, and he hated his desk. He had hated paperwork all of his career, now he could have a secretary take care of it, but that just wasn't in the budget.

Well, at least it hadn't been, but after a not too subtle mentioning to certain influential individuals, the department had been given a grant to hire a bunch of office monkeys.

So that meant Lance could be out from behind his desk and in the field, and it also meant he could do anything he wanted, go with meter maid one day, be solving homicides the next.

"So, who is this guy?"

"Not sure, the chatter was pretty scares. All we know is some big time Bratva member is in town, doing who knows what that will almost certainly cause us a headache." Detective Riley, a member of organized crime, said.

"So, we know nothing?"

"We are aware he's meeting someone here." He said, holding up security cam video. They watched as a large group of men walked over to the elevator. Two of them remained downstairs. "Ok, those lights should say which floor they stop at." Lance and Riley watched with interest. Unfortunately, the elevator stopped three times.

"Ok, let's assume they got off on the last floor. Up near the penthouses and lofts."

"That's floors 23 through 25." Riley said, before giving orders over the radio. "Use the Laser microphones, scan every window, and find them."

After a minute wait. "We have something." One of the tecks said. He then handed the two men a pair of headphones.

"Nice place. A few too many windows for my taste, but still nice." A man said

"Is it a problem?" A woman responded.

And Lance almost went crazy, it couldn't be.

"No, but you never know who's listening, and might have a rifle." The man said again.

"Watch this." Then footsteps could be heard

"Is that?"

"A girl has needs."

And Lance almost had a heart attack. That was defiantly Sara's voice.

"We got it, sir. Floor 24, room 2A." The teck said. And Lance shuddered, remembering that that was the loft Sara shared with Slade and Shado.

"Find out who lives there." Riley said.

"Yes, but all you need is a short skirt and you could have any man ready to help you."

"You're too kind."

And then after a moment. _Wrrrrwrrwrwrwr._

"What the hell." Lace and Riley said together.

"Must be some kind of interference." The tech said. "I guess a vibrator."

"A vibrator, as in…"

"Going by the conversation, I would guess. Put one on the glass, we can't hear a thing." He said, pushing some buttons, but that sound was all they heard. "Must have put one on each window."

"Who owns the place?"

"Queen Consolidated." The tech said.

"What?" Riley asked dumbfounded.

"That's who is paying the rent."

"Looks like we need to have a talk with them then." Riley said.

"Hey, maybe I should do that."

"You sure Captain?"

"Yeah, the Queens know me, maybe a friendly face will help this."

* * *

"So, what are you doing in town, old friend?"

"Sara, as you know, the organization let you and your friends in under no small amount of protest, an American was bad enough, but someone of color, it was not easy."

"Yes, they wouldn't even let Shado join, she was given an advisory position."

"And those voices have started talking again. There are those that say, because of who your father is, and your lack of apparent interest in the day to day operations, or assisting in the brotherhood's expansion, that perhaps my faith in you was misplaced."

"And you old friend?"

"I told them I didn't like the adjectives they used to describe you and let me assure you, they were colorful. But they are not wrong, you have not done anything to publicly help us here, other than the usual payment for service."

"Well, then; in regards to the immediate problem of my critics, tell them that if they want to voice their opinions to do it in person, instead of hiding behind a few thousand miles of water. And to tell their loved one's goodbye before they come. As for my lack of help, what do you suggest?"

"You and your friends are uniquely situated to help the Brotherhood take over this city. Your knowledge and connections to the police and Slade's connection to the rebuilding efforts make it ideal. We thrive while the others starve, and then take them out while they are weak, and the Bratva own the city."

"Well." Sara said, looking like she was considering it, but honestly, she didn't like the idea. "Why should I help. Don't get me wrong, I like the brotherhood and am grateful for all the help, but the winds are blowing hard, and not in crime's direction. And I know better than to sail into a storm."

"Sara, you and I both know that a city without crime, organized crime, is idealistic, but foolishly so. Just because there was an earthquake doesn't mean people appetites for vice have gone away. And where there is an appetite, there is demand, and a supplier always surfaces to meet demand. Wouldn't it be better if that supplier was one you controlled?"

That last word made Sara stop for a moment. "What?"

"You're a captain, you do this, these men will be under your command. You make the rules on what happens."

Sara suddenly was thinking about it. Control of the only game in town, no mob wars, no innocents getting hurt. "I might be amiable to this idea."

"Good." Anatoly said smiling.

"But, we get something clear with your boys first. My town, my rules. And rule number one, no girls. I'm willing to run a business where a girl willing to use her body to make an extra buck, I understand using looks to get ahead. But if I hear about girls, especially underage ones, who's working off her visa, I will castrate anyone involved."

"Ok." Anatoly said, he had already known, given her history, that Sara might have this to say.

"And two, drugs. Anyone dealing dies."

"That one might be harder to work out."

"Please, these are civilized times, with knockoff clothing sales, who needs to sell drugs." Sara said. "Besides, drug selling mobsters get thrown in jail. But, mobsters who keep drugs out of the city, they might be a little less hated. Besides, we are in trouble if we have to sell that stuff to survive."

"True enough, my friend, true enough. Anything else?"

Yes." Sara then leaned forward, putting her elbows on the table and looking him dead in the eye. "And you make sure they understand this. Not one cop dies. Anyone so much as points a gun at a cop, I will kill them, their family, their friends, their family's friends, the family of those friends, the people that owe them money, the shop owner who sells their groceries, even the person who delivers their mail. I will kill everyone, myself, if a single cop is hurt." She said with deadly seriousness. "Am I clear?"

Anatoly just smiled a big smile. "Yes, and your men understand as well."

Sara just blinked "What?"

He then gestured to the men standing around the room. "These men, they're not mine, at least, not directly, they work for you now. These are your seconds in command, they will follow your every order, and I think after that little threat, they will listen."

Sara just looked around, taking them all in. "When do we start?"

* * *

"Captain, what can I do for you?" Walter said, shaking the man's hand with a big smile.

"Hello Walter, I'm working on a case, and I need your help."

"Anything."

"Slade Wilson, he has an apartment that your company pays for, room 2a at the Fox building."

"Yes, I believe so, why?"

"In a little while, organized crime is going to be coming here, asking for information about that room, I need you to stall for as long as possible."

When Walter heard organized crime, he perked up. "What? Why?"

"Slade and Shado were out at dinner last night, and while they were out, Sara was having dinner with a big time Russian Mafia boss at that apartment."

Walter had to take a moment to think. "Quintin, you can't think…"

"I don't know what to think. All I know is my daughter was being friendly with criminals, and people will want to know why. I need you to stall long enough to ask her myself."

"Sure, whatever you require."

* * *

"Daddy, won't you come in." Sara said, opening the door of her apartment to welcome her father in. "Sorry, the place is a mess, had a dear old friend over for dinner last night," Sara said, scurrying around to clean up the last of the stuff. "So, what brings you by?"

"Can't a man visit his own daughter, do I need a reason?"

"No, you just usually give me a little more warning."

"So, a funny thing happened yesterday," Lance said, changing the subject. "I was with an organized crime unit; they were doing a stakeout, trying to find out information about a crime boss."

"Really, Triad or Bertinelli?" Sara asked.

"Neither. It was the Russian Mob, the Bratva." Lance said.

And Sara was lucky she was turned away at that moment, it gave her the time to think of how to play this. "Really, I should call Anatoly, he'd want to know if criminals from home were around."

"What?" Lance asked.

"Anatoly, my friend I had dinner with last night, he is Russian. Very dear to me, saved my life several times, although, I saved his life more times. He's very big in Russia, I could ask him to help, maybe he can ID the man."

"And where did you meet this Anatoly?"

"On the… on the island."

"Oh." Lance said, instantly feeling very weird. It was a rarity for Sara to talk amount that time in her life. When Sara had first come home, Lance had tried to probe for answers, with varying levels of bad results. Slade Wilson had had to sit him down, and explained how, to survive, you had to take on roles and do things, which otherwise you would never do. He said Lance would have to learn to accept that he might never know everything or anything about those years and that he had to not judge Sara for them.

"Long story short, we met, I save him, and he saved me. We both thought the other died after a ridiculous escape attempt, I come back to town, and he called to tell me he was alive and promised to visit sometime."

"Well, sounds like I might need to intimidate this boy."

"He's your age dad, don't worry. Besides, we have far too, interesting, a relationship to ever be together."

"Interesting," Lance was curious again. "how?"

"I saved his life… 5 and ¾ times."

"3/4?"

"I nearly killed him saving his life, the ½, and I was once asked to help kill him, but we ended up saving each other, the other ¼."

Lance just tried to process that.

Slade was right, something you just have to accept. "That makes an odd amount of sense."`

* * *

"Captain, you can't be serious?" Riley asked.

"Did I stutter?" Lance asked, looking at the group of organized crime cops to see if anyone would say anything. "My daughter told me they talked about the weather, Russian supermodels, and some personal stuff that I won't go into here. Now, why would she lie to me?"

"To cover for him."

"Riley, stop and listen to yourself a second. Now, either my daughter is telling the truth, and we are wasting our time and valued resources trying to find out if any valuable information was exchanged at a meeting. Information we can't confirm because we didn't hear anything they said and that a credible source has told me is worthless to us. Or my daughter is lying, and she was having dinner with a man and they discussed, what, the lack of all of the organized crime in this city. Does that make any sense to you?"

Riley had to admit, it did seem unlikely.

"A city, I might add, that, for lack of a better term, is being seriously renovated. Where billionaires are pouring millions into urban development. A city where crime is on the out because of dozens of programs and those same wealthy men and women pouring lots of money into the police force and criminal reform programs." Lance said. "And if they were talking about anything we could use, what would it be. Would this guy is talking to a cops daughter about the last 20 people he murdered, probably giving her lots of details, telling her where they have buried the bodies and the murder weapons location, time and place it happened, the motive. Or maybe, he is giving her the location of all of his brothels and drug dens."

"All right Captain, you've made your point." Riley said, defeated. "Clearly, this is a dead end." He then quickly grabbed a file. "We have some actionable intel about the Triad."

* * *

"So, your father and his friends were listening in on our talk last night?" Anatoly asked.

"They want to know what you're doing in town." Sara said.

"Will this be a problem?"

"No, I told him you were just an old friend."

"And you still want job, even if it means being at odds with him?"

"My father is idealistic, he thinks crime can be eradicated from this city, but it can't, it can only be controlled. I'm interested in that happening."

"Good." Anatoly said before standing up. He had invited Sara to have drinks with him in the Russian consulate. "In that case, I have a meeting tonight that I need you to be at with me."

"Who's it with?"

"An old mutual friend of ours. Chein Na Wei."

Sara almost jumped the man. "Her." She said, outraged. "Why would we be meeting her?"

"We are giving her and the Triad a chance to leave this town quietly. They may be weaker with the hits they have taken these past months, but it would still be best if we could just get them to leave without a fight." Anatoly said, and Sara did have to agree that a mob war would be a good thing to avoid, but still.

"If she doesn't agree."

"I will hold her down; you will devise some ingenious and unsettling way of punishing slash killing her."

"Good."

* * *

There are five stages of decomposition. Fresh – the stage just after death. Blood stops circulating, so the cells stop getting oxygen and carbon dioxide is no longer removed. Causing the cells to lose their integrity and begin releasing enzymes. Blood starts to settle at the body's lowest point, causing discoloration called livor mortis. All the remaining oxygen is consumed any microbes that live in the lungs and intestines, giving way to anaerobic organisms that eat all the carbohydrates, lipids and proteins in the body, creating acids and gas to build up, leading to the bloating phase of decomposition. During this phase, Blowflies and flesh flies are the first to start eating the body.

During the Bloat phase, the gasses and liquids build up, stretching the skin, bursting organs, and eventually rupturing the body in places where it is weak until it's mostly just bones in soup in a skin sack.

This all takes roughly a week to happen, at which point maggots have hatched and started eating on the body as well.

* * *

"I hate this." Sara said as they drove to the docks.

"I know." Anatoly said.

"I mean, I really, really, hate this."

"I know."

"When this goes wrong, I am so rubbing your face in it."

"Yes Sara, anything else?"

"Yes, I hate this."

"Glade we made that clear." He said, getting out before helping her. "Look on the bright side, at least it's not her asking we leave town."

Sara just glared at him as they walked up to the waiting group. "Thank you for meeting us."

"Anything for a friend." China said, taking a step forward.

"I'd say this is the part where we have our men search you while yours search us, but let's be honest, we are all armed." Anatoly said pulling out a gun, smiling.

China just smiled back before pulling out two knives.

"Well, now that that is clear, down to business." Anatoly said.

"Yes, my people do not want to leave."

"Well, none of us want to leave, but it seems times will force us out. There is not enough here for all of us, only one."

"Then why not you leave."

"Because I'm in the position to make demands, you are not." Anatoly said, earning a hard glare from China. "I know your people are weak; you might be putting up a big front, telling everyone you are bringing in supplies from your homeland and such. Convening the locals, who are weaker, that you could still crush them, but we know the truth. Any help you could bring here is barely a trickle, a band-aid to stop the humoring. You can barely get a gun into the city, let alone drugs or cash."

"And you can do better?" China said.

"Yes." Then China's phone rang. "You will want to get that."

China sneered but then answered. "它是什么" (Tā shì shénme) (What is it?")

"我们被警察突袭，我们失去了装运." (Wǒmen bèi jǐngchá túxí, wǒmen shīqùle zhuāngyùn.) (We were raided by the police, we lost the shipment.)

China looked up at Anatoly, blood boiling; her glare could have killed him. That shipment was the first one of its kind in months, a half million in cocaine which could have revived the Triad.

"Problem?" Anatoly asked, walking forward. "I know of a least three more raids, like that one, only they will be on some of your warehouses, they will happen within the hour. I know you have at least seven such places, your emergency supplies of weapons, drugs, etc. By my estimation, you might be able to empty two of them before the police move in, but even if you could, where would you store the items, and moving them without being seen might be hard." Anatoly said smirking. "My friends has an offer." He said, looking at Sara.

China wanted to kill him, but she knew she should hear the offer first. "What?" She said, looking at Sara, a vague memory stirring in the back of her mind, but no need for that now.

"I will buy these supplies off of you, fair market price with maybe a bulk and hard times discount, and you leave town with a very large amount of money. I then undertake the risk of getting the goods to safety with my greater numbers and insider knowledge, it might be possible, if not a little tricky." Sara said, she then put on her best murderer look. "Or not, and you loses what you have, and we have to waste good ammo killing you all off and then taking it, and you go back to Hong Kong with your tail between your legs and nothing to show your bosses." Sara then softened. "I assume you want time to think it over, talk to people."

"Yes, thank you."

"Sorry, no." Sara said, before making a big show of looking at her watch. "We are running low on time, and my offer is a one time only deal, so act now," Sara said, smiling at China. "I might even throw in the name of your mole for free."

China wanted to kill her now too, but she only laughed. Then she looked at Anatoly. "You certainly know how to choose your friends." She then looked back at Sara. "How much is the offer."

"Your mole said something about the warehouses being worth some 4.7 million; I'm willing to make it an even 5." Sara then pulled out a briefcase, opening it to show the money.

China thought for a second, then took out a piece of paper and wrote on it. "The addresses of the, eight, warehouses." She then handed it to Sara, who also pulled out a paper.

"Your mole's name."

China just nodded. "A pleasure doing business."

* * *

An hour later, the police stormed three warehouses to find all but one empty.

That one had the body of a CI in it.

* * *

A week later, Sara was walking through town after visiting Laurel, when someone came out of nowhere and grabbed her.

* * *

"I apologies Miss Lance," China said removing the bag from her head. "But after our dealing in Hong Kong, and now here, I'm afraid I must send a message before I leave."

Sara took a moment to get her bearing before laughing. "Ahh, so, you recognized me."

"You cost my organization millions."

"You were selling a biological weapon, I would also add that if you hadn't, the people who released it in China wouldn't have gotten it, and millions of your countrymen would not have died."

"Profit is profit. We all do what we have to survive."

"Survival is all relative China. There are limits, even for people like us, especially people like us."

"You really believe that?"

"Yes, and you would to if you knew all the things I do," Sara said, and China drew a dagger. "Ferris Air 637 out of Berlin to Hong Kong." Sara said, and China stopped.

"What?"

"It was a flight you were on six years ago that was going to be shot down, would have been to without some interference. It was an assassination attempt on you, which would have left hundreds of innocent lives dead. People like us; we need lines, ones we can't cross. Because if we cross those lines, if we ignore the value and cost of human life, we will all be dead before the end of the week."

China was about to say something, but then a thud was heard behind them.

Followed by several more in very quick succession, and before China could turn around, or Sara could even register what she was seeing, five Triad men were dead with arrows sticking out of them.

"Hello, China."

Both women turned to see a man step out of the shadows.

The Man in Black.

He drew his sword, and with speed, unlike anything Sara had ever seen before, even compared to Slade, was attacking China with extreme precision. Sara had fought her many times over the years, but she had never seen anyone put the Chinese assassin on the defensive so quickly, or keep her there. Every motion was fluid, every move perfectly controlled, he dodged every attack effortlessly, and then struck back, purposefully having the attack go wide, or stopping before slicing the woman.

Sara thought it was glorious.

China was just annoyed.

The man must have gotten bored, as with a single punch, Chein Na Wei went down for the count.

He then walked over to Sara, and pulled out a blade, hopefully going to cut the binds, but then stopped. "You're wondering why I didn't kill her?" He said, standing up straight and turning around, leaving Sara bound to the chair.

Which was very annoying. But Sara had a feeling she wasn't the one he was talking to. "You're curious, am I him, the one they speak of?"

"Are you?" Another voice said, one Sara couldn't find and was sure she recognized, just not sure where she had heard it before.

"I don't think you actually want to know, you're scared of the answer." He then walked a short distance away and turned to face a part of the warehouse so dark that even Sara couldn't see anything. "Otherwise you wouldn't be pointing that at me."

Then another person came out of the shadows, holding a bow with an arrow pointed at the Man in Black.

It was the Dark Archer.

Sara wasn't sure how she knew, but she did. Their outfits were similar, but the Archer wore a hood, while The Man in Black wore a head scarf that wrapped tightly around his head.

And, now that Sara thought about it, she didn't think it had any eyes either.

"Are you him?" The Archer said.

"Arrows, they are such ineffective projectile, I wonder why anyone still fears them." The Man said walking back toward Sara.

"Get away from her." The Archer said, pulling back more on the sting, causing the Man to stop.

"Why would I save her, and then kill her."

"Maybe you only saved her to interrogate her, maybe something worse." He said. "I don't know because I don't know you. You won't tell me who you are."

The Man just walked forward a little more, causing the archer to fire.

One moment his hands were at his sides, the next he had caught the arrow without even turning around, and then when he did turn, he was over in front of the archer before he could even draw again, punching him in the face.

They both then drew swords and fought. The Man in Black would offer the Dark Archer critics on his style, offering suggestions for better attacks, warnings when his technique was a bit off.

After a few minutes, the Man in Black again became bored, and disarmed the Archer. "Not bad." He then gave the Archer back his sword. "I am Al Sah-Him Ibn al Ghul, husband of the heir, and horseman of the Demon's Head. Now show your proper respect." The man, Al Sah-Him, said.

And the Archer did bow his head in respect to him, shocking Sara.

Al Sah-Him walked over to Sara and, finally, cut her bonds.

Yes, she could have escaped, but dislocating your thumb is unpleasant, and it would have been hard to explain.

Al Sah-Him then turned around and walked away. "Do with her what you will." He said, pointing to China, who was starting to regain consciousness, only for him to punch her again. "Have a nice day." He said to the Archer.

* * *

"What?" Slade asked, really not sure if he was hearing things.

"He beat Chein Na Wei like it was nothing, and gave fighting lessons to the Dark Archer."

"As in The Dark Archer, the one that took all of you down with relative ease." Diggle said. The whole group, minus Felicity, giving a shudder at the memory. The Dark Archer had taken hostages, calling them out, and it had not gone well for them. He was fast, and strong, taking Slade out first with three exploding arrows, Slade having caught one and sliced the others, but that didn't stop them from going boom and causing him to fall through three stories of rotted wood to a hard cement floor.

Then Sara had tried to fight him, getting an arrow in the side and shoulder for her troubles, and Shado had her knee broken, a dislocated jaw, and a broken arm.

If Slade hadn't come up and managed to throw a knife in the Archer's back, none of the women would have survived the fight.

"So, who is this Al Sah-Him?" Shado asked.

"Well, that wasn't his full title apparently." Sara said.

"What was the rest of it?"

"He said. 'I am Al Sah-Him Ibn al Ghul, husband of the heir, and horseman of the Demon's Head.' And then told the Archer to show respect, and he did by bowing to him."

"Did you say al Ghul?" Shado asked.

"Yes." Sara said.

"He is a member of the League." Shado said, looking terrified all of the sudden.

"The League?" Diggle asked.

"The League of Assassins."

"What's the League of Assassins? And please, don't say it's a league made up of assassins." Felicity said.

"No, it's an urban legend. I heard about them in Afghanistan from a tribal leader. He claimed there was an ancient sect of assassins, deadly warriors that killed and vanished like ghosts. Thought he was smoking what he was selling." Diggle said.

"They are very real. They are the myth warlords and men with drug empires tell themselves don't exist so they can sleep at night. But they are very real, my father met a member once, saved the man's life, in return, the League owed him a blood debt, one that has yet to be repaid." Shado said.

"Do you think we can use that then, get some information?" Slade asked.

"Maybe."

* * *

Shado lit the fire, causing a large cloud of purple smoke to bellow out of it and into the sky.

"Lucky, this part of the Glades is still being cleared, no one will notice a little more smoke, even if it is a weird color." Diggle said, wearing a mask to obscure his identity, the rest of the group in costume.

"Remember, the one thing we can't do is kill him; we can't even threaten him." Shado said. "If he is who he says he is, and we have no reason to believe he isn't, the League will rain down hell on this whole city for laying a glove on him."

"They would do far worse actually." A voice said, causing all of them to turn to see Al Sah-Him come out from behind a pile of rubble. "Why do you insult me?"

"Insult you?" Sara asked. "How."

"You wear your masks, Sara Lance." He said, causing all of them to freeze. "Slade Wilson, John Diggle, and Shado Fie."

"How do you know those names?" Slade asked, not hiding his anger.

"I have my ways. Be glade I do, however, were you to summon me without the blood debt owed to you, you would be in quite the pickle right now." He said. "As it is, you have saved me some time, I was going to come to Verdant and tell you this, remove our debt to you, but this works as well."

"We already have our questions." Shado said.

"And I bet I can make you throw them all away with but three words and listen to what I have to say instead." He said, and even though they could not see his face, they could hear the smirk in his voice. "How about this, if these three words don't interest you, I will answer your questions instead, deal?"

"Deal." Sara said.

Al Sah-Him laughed. "Ivo, Amazo, Mirakuru."

Instantly the vigilantes whole demenor changed, he was right, those words did interest them, extremely. "What do you know?" All three of the vigilantes asked together, causing Diggle to look at them surprised.

"That, despite your best efforts, Anthony Ivo is alive, and for the last few years, has been experimenting with the Mirakuru. He blames you all for the fact that his wife died of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, believing that had you not delayed him, he would have gotten home in time to cure her. He has amassed, somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 men, all Mirakuru enhanced, and has found a way to make hundreds more."

"How?" Slade asked.

Al Sah-Him tossed a paper to him. Slade picked it up, showing an article about a recent scientific breakthrough by S.T.A.R. Labs, detailing the medical breakthrough of a biotransfuser. "What is this?" Sara asked, looking at the article when Slade showed it to her.

"The future of medicine, or the future of Mirakuru transfusion. The biotransfuser takes the blood of one person and transfers it to several people, mixing the blood together, allowing the exchange of antibodies. Medically this could allow a person naturally immune to a deadly disease to pass along that immunity to hundreds of other people. If modified, it would permit Ivo to make hundreds of soldiers by having the machine metabolize the Mirakuru, taking the survival rate from one in a thousand to one death in a thousand."

"How will he get one?" Sara asked.

"S.T.A.R. Labs has already made three of them and is planning to deliver them to hospitals in Star, Central, and National City. In a year the hospitals will give their verdict on the machines, and then if all goes well in the reviews, they will begin selling them all over the world, Ivo will try and steal on of them."

"Do you know which?" Slade asked.

"My guess would be the one in Central City, the main hospital is Central City Memorial, which is where the biotransfuser is being delivered. It also happens to have one of the largest blood banks in the country, it boasts of having 50,000 units of O- blood, with the ability to store it for up to ten years."

"He could easily build an army with that."

"I would hurry then, the unveiling of the biotransfuser in Central City happens in three days." He said before turning to walk away.

"Wait." Sara called. Al Sah-Him turned back to face her. "Why don't you help us, clearly you have the skill, and you must see what a risk Ivo succeeding would be?"

"Wars must be fought on many fronts, if Ivo sees you are in Central City, he might unleash some of his men here, and they would be unchallenged. If I remain, I do not risk more exposure, and can fight them if necessary." He said, leaving them to consider their options.

* * *

Three days later, Slade, Shado, and Sara found themselves in a large group, outside of Central City Memorial Hospital, listening to the president of the hospital make a big speech about the hope of modern medicine. "Where are they?" Slade asked.

"I'm getting nothing, no security alarms, no movement on any motion sensors, and even the spectrometer isn't doing anything." Felicity said over the comms; she was safe in the hotel a mile away.

"Spectrometer?" Sara asked.

"The hospital has them in the case of an earthquake; I thought it might be a good idea to check that no one was tunneling under the hospital."

"Well, better safe than sorry." Slade said. "But they need to make a move quick. Otherwise, there will be a lot of people surrounding that thing."

"Nothing on the police scan… wow"

"What?"

"The police just got a lot of chatter. A guy in a hockey mask with an AK-47 barged into the 11th precinct and started shooting." She then got another alert. "And now there is a bat-wielding clown, yes I read that right, going around, destroying a mall." She said. "Guys, these are both at least seven miles from the hospital."

"It's a diversion." Slade said.

And then a lot of shots rang out, and the crowd started running

* * *

"What happened?" Felicity asked.

"Five people started shooting up the event, we got in costume, and managed to take them out. What happened to you?" Sara asked.

"Someone was jamming the signal, they used a serious multi-wavelength jammer, like the kind you use in the NSA to stop any signal from getting out. I couldn't reach you, the cameras, cell traffic, everything was down."

"Did they get the device?" Slade asked.

"I don't know. I'm still waiting for the reports to come in." Felicity said, then her computer made a noise, she ran over and clicked some buttons. "Neither the man in the mall or the police station were caught, and the hospital is reporting the theft of the biotransfuser." She said in defeat.

"How."

"Apparently the hospital had an old sub-basement from the 1940s that aren't on any modern online plans, they blew the floor out and took it out through the sewers." Felicity said.

"So, this is bad." Slade said.

* * *

Three days later, Sara had the whole Bratva looking for Ivo, Diggle had reached out to ARGUS, Slade had even asked Captain Lance and Walter to keep an eye out for anything, saying that they didn't want the biotransfuser for Starling General Hospital to be stolen as well.

Nothing so far.

"I am running out of rocks to look under." Felicity said the team was having dinner at the apartment, and Felicity was on her laptop.

"How can they be so well hidden; no one can hide in this city." Sara said.

"What makes you think they are even here?" Diggle asked.

"Ivo hates us, me especially, he would want to begin his revenge here."

"But that doesn't mean he has to make his army here, they could be in Gotham City for all we know, ride into town on the 9:16." Felicity said.

"No, he's here, I know it."

"Well, where could they be then?" Felicity asked, more to the computer than anyone in the room.

Then a loud bang was heard. "What the…"

And smoke grenades came down the stairs.

"MOVE!" Slade yelled

But no one got out before they started to blackout.

* * *

"Hello, Sara."

Sara woke up to hear the voice of her nightmares.

Ok, one of the voices from her nightmares.

"I'm so happy to see you all again." Ivo said, removing the bag from Sara's head. "And now I get to meet the family."

If Sara was scared before, she was terrified now. As Anthony and his men removed bags from the head of Thea, Laurel, her father, Walter, Moira, even her mother was there. She then looked to her other side and saw Shado's sister, Slade, Felicity, Felicity's mom, Diggle, Carly, her son Andy, Malcolm, and Tommy Merlin.

"Anthony, what are you doing?" Sara said, not needing to act scared, as she was genuinely terrified.

"My wife died Sara, and you and your friends are responsible." He then took out a gun, pointing it at Thea. "And as for the Queens, well, Oliver was the biggest problem with that island."

This caused Moira to perk up, and Ivo saw it. "Yes, I knew your son, caused me many problems, so I killed him." He said smiling, to Moira's horror. "I told him to choose who lived, who died." He said, signaling to one of his men to move Sara and Shado out into the middle of the room. "He chose himself." Ivo then turned to Slade. "You were dead the last time I did this, so I'm going to let you chose," Ivo said, walking up behind them, pointing his gun at them both, getting a lot of reactions from the room. "Which one do I shoot?"

"I will kill you." Slade said, the level of venom dripping from his words was palatable. Slade then began to struggle against the bonds, but they didn't give.

"I cured you, by the way. You're an ordinary man right now." Ivo said, nodding to a man who hit Slade in the head. "Now chose, or I will shoot them both in the gut." He said, before pointing the gun toward where Thea and Moira were sitting. "Or maybe you'd rather they were here instead, maybe they could die, like Oliver did, because of your failure."

Slade growled at Ivo, snarling out ever threat and curse he could think of at the man, which was an impressive list, to say the least.

Ivo just smirked before jerking to the left.

Out of the was of an arrow that Al Sah-Him fired, causing it to miss and hit Slade. "Anthony Ivo, for your crimes you have been sentenced to death." He then drew and fired three more arrows that Anthony caught, letting the third hit him, but it bounced off.

"You think you can kill me with these, toothpicks?"

"No."

Suddenly the arrows exploded like a flash bang.

When everyone could see and hear again, the hostages were against a wall with 30 League members between them and Ivo's men, with Al Sah-Him standing alone between the assassins and Ivo.

"You think you can save them from me?"

"Yes." Al Sah-Him then calmly walked forward, drawing his sword, as dozens of Ivo's men ran at him.

It was a particularly one-sided fight.

Al Sah-Him managed to chop one of them in half almost, then twirled and cut off a head, an arm, and a leg. Four, five, six, more went down.

Until number nine got in a lucky hit, throwing him twenty feet and into a cement pillar. And so Ivo's men split off into two groups, four of them going to finish Al Sah-him off, and the rest to kill the others.

The people who went after Al Sah-Him got there first, laying into the man with a fury of kicks and punches. Everyone who should have been horrified that mad men were coming to kill them were too distracted by the fact that they were watching a man have his arms bent at unnatural angles and have his head facing the wrong way.

But then as the other group got closer the first goon yelled at the captives, drawing the attention of the shocked onlookers.

But before they could start tearing the captives apart, the first goon got quite the surprise when one of his comrades slammed into him.

Al Sah-Him was standing, and with a single punch sent two more of his attackers flying a good 40 feet away before turning on the other one, grabbing him, and breaking him in half. The rest of Ivo's soldiers were terrified to see him marching toward him.

Therefore, they did not see Slade stand up, push the assassins out of the way, grab a sword, and lay into the first person he saw.

"The arrow Slade was hit with, it wasn't a miss, it had metabolized Mirakuru in it ment for him." One of the assassins, a female with a red veil, told them. They then joined in the fight as Slade alone could not keep all the men at bay, and Al Sah-Him still had a good dozen between him and the others.

But unfortunately, the Mirakuru enhanced men, while lacking any real skill, more than made up for it in raw power. While the League could fell one of them, they could still kill three of them before they died. The numbers of assassins were quickly dwindling.

So suddenly, the group of bystanders found themselves faced with two Mirakuru soldiers and only two assassins between them. The woman in red and another man. "Once more into the breach old friend, once more." The woman said, raising her sword for the attack.

They did well, taking one of the two down, but then the guy assassin got knocked down, and was having trouble getting up, and then the last soldier grabbed the woman and drew back for what would be a lethal punch.

Malcolm, acting fast, grabbed the man's sword, who he knew was Al-Owal, and stabbed the man in the back, making sure to cut his heart in two.

Nyssa dropped to the ground, giving him a nod. "Once more." Malcolm said.

Al Sah-Him had grown bored by now, and the attack on Nyssa made the rest of his patience leave him. "Enough." He said, raising his hand above his head.

And with a flick of his wrist, a purple glow enveloped his hand, and then all of Ivo's men froze suddenly, flying up a few feet in the air, and then a purple energy left the goons and went into his hand.

After a few moments of this, the energy stopped coming from the men and they dropped, looking more like mummies that people.

"You couldn't have done that sooner?" Thea asked.

Al Sah-Him looked at her. "No. It requires a certain amount of energy to drain people without touching them, especially in a group." He then looked at Ivo, the only one still alive. "Time to end this." He said, flicking his wrist toward the man, causing him to disappear. "See you for dinner tonight dear." He said to Nyssa, before disappearing himself.

* * *

Ivo suddenly woke up, dazed and confused.

"Welcome back doctor." Al Sah-Him said, standing up from a rock.

"Where am I?"

"Don't you recognize it? You killed me here." He said, nodding to something behind Ivo.

That something was the Amazo.

"Lian Yu."

"Yes."

Ivo then turned to him. "You were one of my prisoners."

"For a time."

"What do you mean I killed you, were you one of the ones who died from the Mirakuru?"

"No." He said. "This place, so close to her, is the only place I can be as I once was." He then began unwrapping his headscarf, revealing a grotesque body underneath. Maggots were eating at his flesh, crawling over his body and into his ears, his eyes sockets, out of his nose. His skin was discolored, blotchy purple in random places, but otherwise a sickly pale color. His chest was bloated, as were his arms. "Do you know what it's like, to have life cling to you, like a disease?" He asked, his tongue was green with a chunk missing, maggots crawling in his mouth. Taking out his sword, he sliced his lower stomach open, causing a disgusting yellow green and brown liquid to pour out onto the ground, after a moment the flesh resealed itself. "To feel your insides liquefy and cause your skin to pull itself apart, only for it to heal and do it all over again?" He asked. "To beg your friends not to bury you in the cold, dark earth, to watch as they buried you, begging with all you have, hoping they will hear you and stop, only to be slowly sealed in the purest darkness you can't even fathom?"

Al Sah-Him then began to glow with the same purple light he had when he was taking the life of Ivo's men. His chest became a standard shape, his arms shrunk, still large with mussel but not with gas buildup, his eyes regrew, his tongue was no longer green, and the maggots began to fall to the ground before scurrying away. His flesh became a more natural color, and his bald head had blond hair growing out of it.

When it was finished, Oliver Queen stood before Ivo, looking the same as when he was killed by Ivo, five years ago.

"Oliver." Ivo said, shocked.

"Yes, me." He then swung at the man with his sword.

But then he dropped to the ground in agonizing pain, unleashing a scream that challenged the sound of the oceans waves. The pain of constantly dying was nothing compared to this, he could feel it as each cell burned, was torn from him, was twisted, or exploded; the very fiber of his being was being pulled from him and destroyed.

"Not Yet, Bring Him To Me; You Must Sacrifice Him To Me. Unlock My Full Power." A voice that only Oliver could hear for the last three years said.

"Yes, mistress." Oliver said through his blood-curdling screams, and the pain stopped.

Oliver rose up after a moment, to see the pale face of Ivo. Even he could not remain composed in the face of such a sound.

Oliver then faced inland, and focusing on the power inside him, called it forth to create a door into the secret chambers of the island. After a moment, it appeared, and He forced Ivo to go through the door and into a tunnel.

"Where are we?" Ivo asked.

"On the island, a little north of Hell, here, a little bit less north and to the left." Oliver said, forcing the man forward.

"What are you doing, if you're going to kill me, kill me, I gave you a quick death."

Oliver shoved the man against the wall of the tunnel. "No, what you gave me was an eternal death." He then forced him to keep moving.

"At least tell me what is going on?"

"Have you ever heard of the Minocar?" (Pronounced: Min-O-S-air)

"No."

"Billions of years ago, a race of beings began experimenting with the deferent form of energy born out of the universal background energy, an electromagnetic field that binds all living sentient being together; it's what causes you to know when someone is watching, or that feeling you get before something goes wrong. They created a universal police force called the Manhunters and set themselves up as the universes guardians, but the Manhunters failed. They then decided that they would create a police force out of living beings, and created devices to harvest that same universal energy, and they eventually settled on the green energy of willpower. But not all of them were convinced, some thought they should take it a step further, and create living beings out of the universal energy, they called them the Minocar, meaning motivation in their language. Unlike emotions, all beings, regardless of mental state, have some form of motivation, whether that is a sentient motivation, or simply the need to continue living." They then entered a large chamber, the wall depicted people marching toward the far end of the room where they cast themselves into a fire, burning alive, blood dripping from them as they went. Above the people were giants holding whips, encouraging them forward. And above them on the ceiling was some great deity, her arms outstretched to touch the walls, her feet above the door, and her mouth was open, taking in the smoke from the fire. "While the green energy of will was weak against magic, these new beings were able to master the mystic arts quickly. The Guardians feared magic, and so sealed the Minocar away in different backwater planets. Millennia later, we came in the scene."

It was only then that Ivo noticed, what is probably an important detail, the people being led into the fire, and even the giants holding the whips, they all had a look of terror on their faces, and they were looking at her.

"Who is she?" Ivo asked.

"She is Marcav." (Pronounced M-air-K-Av) "She draws her power from the motivation caused by suffering, particularly physical pain." He said, watching Ivo look around in terrified awe.

"She's what draws them, isn't she, she's why this island was a prison for so long."

"The Island has something of a history of being an unpleasant place. If it gives you comfort Ivo, they are not terrified of her."

Ivo turned to look at him, shocked. "Why would you want to comfort me?"

"Because, despite all you have done, in the end, there were worse fates that could have befallen me, and you always wanted to do good, you just got very lost along the way. I can relate, if it wasn't for a few people in my life, I might be just like you are now."

"So, why not let me go. Show me mercy, like you would want mercy."

"Because Ivo, just because you wanted to do good, doesn't negate all the evil you have done. What is that old saying, the road to hell is paved with good intentions." Oliver then nodded toward the fire. "If it is any consolation, your death will bring forth a power that will save more lives than you ever thought possible, not just on Earth, but every life in the universe." Oliver then looked at him. "Is not the essence of heroism, to die so others might live?"

Ivo, looked around, before nodding. "So, what are they terrified of?"

"Failing to summon her. They feared that their suffering would not give her the power necessary to fight back a great evil. They did, but she was imprisoned again, underneath this chamber." Oliver said, directing Ivo's attention to the floor, which depicted circles inside of circles inside of circles. It took him a moment, but eventually he saw that they were all interconnected.

"A gordian knot lock. They sealed her under an unbreakable seal."

"Nothing is completely unbreakable, but the key is something, almost impossible to obtain."

"What is it?"

"A selfish man, selflessly sacrificed for the life, or lives, of his friends, killed by an evil man on a genuinely righteous quest, must be brought back to life, and then find the man who killed him, must kill him in cold blood, and the evil man must be accepting of his fate," Oliver said. "She had almost given up hope of finding such men until you and I came. Exactly what she needed, to open the lock."

"And, why would you want that?"

"She is the one keeping me this way, but she can bring me back to life, completely."

"And how do you know she won't wipe out humanity?"

"Because, we happen to be a very abundant food source, most of our suffering is simply self-inflicted, and we are very slow learners. Not to mention our habit of remaining hopeful and defiant in the face of suffering, which is what she needs. She cannot feed on those who have accepted their suffering, as it no longer motivates them. The monster that is coming could make even us accept the hopelessness of life, and then he might be able to do that to everyone in the universe. Something she cannot allow, and so she is willing to defend Earth and humanity." Oliver said. "Plus, when you are forcefully bound to a planet for countless millennia, it's apparently hard not to get attached."

Ivo thought over what Oliver had said, the man's words carrying with them a certain weight. "Ok, do it."

And without a second's hesitation, Oliver opened Ivo's intestines, having them fall to the floor in a pile, a moment later the man hit the ground as well, not quite dead, but certainly getting there.

His skin then slowly began to melt, flowing into the grooves on the floor, the intricate design, until there was no longer a body, just soup.

Then the floor began to shift underneath Oliver, turning, twisting, as it slowly unraveled itself, shrinking down into the earth to reveal a door that then opened to reveal a body on an alter that looked like it had been there for forever.

Oliver then walked forward, and the fell to the ground again as the pain overtook him.

But, where typically the pain fueled himself, filling him with power, he felt it being leached, taken in by the dry bones on the altar, and slowly it reanimated itself. The cloth over the body becoming a light purple again, the golden crown on its head shining with a new brilliance, the darkest hair growing from its head, reaching to about the bottom of the shoulder blades.

The body underneath the cloth did not actually fill it out much, but as it rose up, crimson stripes appeared to bleed through the fabric, and dark black eyes opened, and a mouth made of the cloth it wore.

Finally, the pain subsided. " _You have done well._ " She said to him.

"Thankyou mistress." Oliver said, bowing.

" _Now we must prepare, is there much to do, and not a lot of time._ "

* * *

 **This is part of changingdestiny40's Assassin Canarrow (Nyssa/Oliver/Sara), Canarrow (Oliver/Sara), and Olyssa (Oliver/Nyssa) fic event to celebrate the 100** **th** **episode of Arrow, and I am personally celebrating the fact that the show sucks a lot less now than it has the last few season, it might even be getting good again, but I will wait tell the end to cast that vote..**

 **There will be a part two to this, just don't know when as it will probably be longer than this one, and this one is already really long. And after that, it depends on if people want more or not.  
**


	2. Chapter 2: To love a Demon

_Sara and Shado stood silently as Slade finished placing the final stone on the rock pile that contained Oliver's body._

" _Oliver told me that I wouldn't die here." Sara said, looking down at the fresh grave. Next to it were the graves for Robert Queen and Yao Fei, each with a log laid on top with the name carved into it. "He said he would protect me, no matter the cost. But I… I never thought he would take it so far. I just hope he is with his father now."_

 _"He told me he would do everything he could to make up for the person he was, before the island." Slade said wearily. Looking down at the grave with hate. "He deserved better, to survive Fryer, this place, he deserved to live, he was my brother, and he deserved to get his family back. Not be shot like a dog"_

 _"And we are going to make the man who killed him pay." Shado said._  
A few hours earlier.

You don't feel a bullet when it hits, it's too fast. All you feel is the thump, and then a race begins. If your brain wins, it will unravel all the different feelings you have just experienced, the burning, the tearing, the cutting. Or shock will set in, causing you to go numb as you suffer blood loss and, unless medical attention is soon at hand, die.

Oliver got lucky; he went into shock, all he felt was the thud and then slightly registered the ground coming up to meet him. His eyes began to cloud up, and then a tunnel of pure black formed around the edges, getting larger, and the world became smaller, as memories began to play out before his eyes.

But then, his vision began to clear up, and suddenly he wasn't numb, just cold. Then, he heard a loud noise, yelling, and gunfire, and Oliver knew he had to get up, get up and get to his friends.

But he couldn't move.

Oh no, the bullet, it had hit his spine, he was paralyzed.

This wouldn't do, this was a death sentence here. If he was paralyzed, he would die, and probably get everyone else killed because he would be such a burden.

This island really hated him, survive a gun shot at point blank range, and die from starvation or infection.

Maybe Slade was right, he was useless sometimes, and so useless he could not even die efficiently.

"Kid. Kid!" Suddenly he was being picked up, the world spinning in a dark frame, that tunnel from earlier not being gone yet. "Come on Oliver, get up, get up!"

"Well, I'd love to Slade, but I think I'm paralyzed."

"Get up, come on. Get up you selfish bastard. You get up right now or I swear I will hurt you!"

"Come on Slade, lose the ability to understand English?" Oliver said, looking at the man as Shado walked up behind him. "And trust me, your already hurting me, carful with the bullet wound."

Slade jumped when Shado touched him. "I am never letting you live that down."

"Why?" Slade asked in a broken voice.

"Ivo wanted him to choose. He wanted Oliver to live with choosing which one of us died tonight. He jumped in front of both of us, he asked Ivo to kill him."

"But I'm fine, what is with you guys."

"I will find Ivo, and on my life, if it takes every day of my life to do it, he will pay."

"But, I'm not dead. Guys, I'm not dead."

"I'm not dead, guys, please, I'm not dead! HELP! I'm not dead!" Oliver yelled as he was being placed in what he knew would be his grave. "SLADE! SLADE! I'm not dead. Please, don't do this, please, I'm not dead."

He then felt the rocks being placed on top of him. "No, Slade, don't do this, please, please, hear me, I'm not dead, please."

The pain was unimaginable, being crushed by the rocks, the feeling of your own body, liquefying, his body splitting open from the pressure.

The endless, inescapable pressure, his body being crushed while it exploded, a truly unique and unending suffering.

But the black was worse. It was a living black, it moved before his eyes, looking like a million small black bugs, crawling over his eyes that no light could penetrate, thick and unending in the sleepless nights and days.

Oliver had quickly realized that he couldn't sleep as he was now.

Which means he could have no way to tell the time. He might have been here 10 minutes, or 10 years, or 10,000 years, the blackness disoriented him so much that he had almost completely lost his grip on reality.

"Help, please, someone. I'm not dead, please, help"

He just kept calling, more of an endless mantra now, the only thing to tell him he still existed, that he was real and not a cruel dream.

Days, maybe.

"I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead…"

Hours or Decades

"Please, let me die. Let me die, please. I want to die. I WANT TO DIE! Please, let me die. Let me die. Let me die. Let me die. Let me die. I want to die. Let me die. Please, let me die. I WANT TO DIE! Please, let me die. Let me die, please. Please, let me die. Please, let me die. I want to die. I want to die. I WANT TO DIE! Please, let me die. I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! Let me die. Please, let me die. I want to die. Let me die, please. I WANT TO DIE! Please, let me die. Let me die. I want to die. Let me die, please. I WANT TO DIE! I want to die. I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! Please, let me die. Let me die, please. I want to die. Let me die. Let me die. I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! Please, let me die. Let me die, please. I want to die. I WANT TO DIE! Please, let me die. Let me die. Let me die, please. I WANT TO DIE! I want to die. Let me die, please. I WANT TO DIE! Let me die, please. Please, let me die. I want to die. Let me die. I WANT TO DIE! Let me die, please. I want to die. Please, let me die. Let me die. I want to die. I WANT TO DIE! Please, let me die. Let me die, please. I WANT TO DIE! Let me die. I want to die. Please, let me die. I want to die. I WANT TO DIE! Let me die. Please, let me die. I want to die.  
What's the point? I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE!

I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE!

I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE!

I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE!

I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE!

I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE!

I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE!

I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE!

I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE!

I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE!

I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE!

I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE!

I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE!

I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE!

I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE!

I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE!

I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE!

I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE!

I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE!

I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE!

I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO DIE!  
Millennia, or Minuets… did it matter anymore… is time even real… Is the world real?

Am I real?

"Do you know what are we even looking for?" Alqat asked.

"I will know when I know?" Al'iishara said.

"You have been saying that for six days"

"And I am surprised you have yet to understand there meaning."

"Enough." Nyssa said, coming to join them. The whole landing party of seven were all combing the island, looking for something? And to be honest, she agreed with Alqat, not knowing what they were searching for was annoying. "We shall continue on."

"This seems pointless, if we don't know what we are looking for, how will we know when we find it?"

"I will know, I can feel someone here, on this island, begging for help. We should render assistance, especially if they have magic."

Magic, that was the thing that set the group on edge. The pit was one thing, but actual magic was another. Al'iishara came from a long line of those that could sense magic who had served in the League for centuries, and they guarded a restricted library, that only Ra's himself and the head of that line could access freely. It was one of the few places in the League that were off limits otherwise to all, even Nyssa.

"And how are we to know this is not a trap?"

"We don't, isn't that exciting." Eaba'a said, having heard the women approach. He was the second longest in the League of the group; 15 years of service, always having a certain way about him, never letting a setback affect him for long. "When we find it, we'll know."

"Exactly my friend." Nysaa said, leading the way, and soon they were all together. "On to the next part of the island."

They began the trip, until Al'iishara suddenly stopped. "Wait." She then turned and went through the forest, the other following.

Until they came upon three rock piles, which after walking around them, revealed themselves to be graves. Al'iishara walked up to the freshest one. "This is it, this is who we are looking for."

"A dead man?" Alqat.

"No, not dead, not quite. Something on the island is keeping him alive. A living soul, trapped in a decaying body, buried in the dark."

"Then let us dig him out." Nyssa said, looking at the log with a name on it. "Mr. Queen."

When Oliver first felt the world shift, he didn't know what to think. It was still dark, and he still suffered.

His first thought was an earthquake, which made him think he might to be buried even more into the ground. Not that that would really matter, he could be two inches, or 2 miles, from the surface and never know it because if the darkness, but for some reason, the idea still terrified him.

But then, he saw light.

Light, for the first time in what felt like a million years, he saw light.

"What of him?" Nyssa asked.

"He is alive, somehow." Al'iishara said. "I believe we should take him to Nanda Parbat."

"Why?" Alqat asked.

"I just do, it feels like the right choice." Al'iishara.

"That that is what we shall do." Nyssa said. Turning and walking away. "Alqat, help carry him." She said over her shoulder. ' _I shall have to speak with my father about this one, she is still to undisciplined._ '

"Arise my daughter." Ra's al Ghul said. "Did you find anything on your journey?"

"Yes father." Nyssa said, before motioning for the others to bring forth the body. "We found this body, buried on the island. According to Al'iishara, some form of magic is keeping his soul trapped in his body."

Ra's looked at the body. "Remove the cloth, let me see it's face." He said, walking toward it.

The cloth was removed, and Ra's looked down at the maggot eaten face. A weaker man might have lost his noon time meal, and some of the assassins who had been entrusted with the body had put spices in their hoods to mask the odor.

But Ra's just looked him over, seeming to not even notice the stench. "We shall put him in the pit."

The room was shocked by the declaration, the use of the pit was an honor only bestowed on high ranking members of the league, or those who had proved their bravery in some great feat and were wounded in the process. Usually both were required.

But no one questioned their master's words, they simply prepared for the ceremony.

All Oliver knew, was that something was up.

He was dressed in dark cloth, having had his torn clothing removed, and he was lying on a wood pallet with ropes attached.

And there was a lot of nonsensical chanting going on.

He just hoped they weren't going to put him in the dark again.

When he had seen he was going to be on a boat, he had had a minor panic attack. Or, whatever the equivalent to a panic attack would be for someone in his condition. But then they placed him in a dark room, and he had lost it.

He knew, he really did, that by now screaming was pointless, that no one could hear him. But after he realized that they were shutting him in a dark room, he just couldn't help it. He screamed, tried to move, and just about did anything he could to get these people's attention, but eventually the door shut to the room he was in, and it was like he was buried again.

At first, when the door would open, letting the light in, he could stop the screaming, the thrashing about. He knew he wasn't really thrashing, his body wasn't moving, but he could still feel himself acting like he was thrashing about.

But inevitably, the door would close again, and he would be in the dark, again. Until eventually he just never stopped screaming.

It had taken him an hour to calm himself down after the cloth had been removed from his face, luckily the rooms he was prepared in had light, and no one tried to cover his face again.

And this room had light, so he was doing ok.

He just wished he knew what the hell was going on.

Suddenly the chanting stopped, and some woman came up and said something, still in a language he couldn't make heads or tails of, and then he saw the ceiling moving away from him.

And then he saw the water rising above him.

And, he freaked.

Latter, he would look back and remember with joy how it felt to go into the water, how it made the black around the edges of his vision fade. It was like, he was a deflated balloon trapped in a cage, shaped just like him. He could move inside the cages, but never find the walls that were his body, and so he could not actually move his body. How it would feel too slowly inflate until he fit himself again, and odd euphoria that came from actually moving his arms instead of the phantom movements he had been doing.

He called them phantom movements, because he imagined it was like what amputees felt, when they felt when they could feel the limbs they no longer had move.

However, at the time, all he could think of was how dark the waters were.

When he could finally move, really move, he flopped around for a moment like a fish on dry land. When he finally realized he could actually move, he reached out, hoping to find something to grab to pull himself out. He eventually found a hard ledge that he could use to pull himself out of the water.

"Let me die. Let me die. Please let me die."

Who was saying that? The voice was harsh and deep, as if someone had gargled on small rocks and then put a thick cream down their throat.

"Let me die. Let me die."

By then, Oliver had crawled out of the pit, and was slowly inching across the ground. He was not sure why he was moving, probably he wanted to get away from that pit, he thought. In his defense, he was really confused.

"Please, please let me die."

Wait, was that him? Oliver tried to focus, he stopped moving along the ground, being about half way between the door and the pit, and just focused. And then realized that his lips were in fact moving, and he was the one with that voice.

"Please let me die."

He wanted to stop saying that, he really did, but the words just kept coming. "Let me die. Let me die. Let me die."

So, he just curled up in the fetus position, and for what might have been the first time in a million years, exhaustion to over, and he fell asleep.

Ra's just looked at the man. He was still decayed, still rotting, all the pit had done was animate his dead body and wash away the maggots. He had watched as he had crawled out of the pit, and along the floor, moving slowly and without purpose, which is probably why he had gone left and then right several times. Pleading to be allowed to die.

Ra's, was almost inclined to give it to him.

"That was, something." Sayf said, one of Ra's most trusted bodyguards, who had actually served in the League as long as Ra's had, and they had both seen a lot, but never something like this. "The pit did not fully restore him."

Ra's gave the man a look. "Take him to the dungeon; make sure that it is very well lit."

"As you command."

Ra's then turned to Nyssa. "Daughter, I wish you to stay with him, make sure he understands what is happening when he awakens."

Nyssa, and others, were rather shocked to hear this, she was not usually one who cared for the, for lack of a better term, sick. "Very well father."

When Oliver woke up, he had no idea what the heck was going on. Looking around, he saw he was on the floor in a stone room, the walls were flat except for four torches, and the ceiling was very high. But as he looked down, he saw that there were dozens of candles, that had been moved into the room, giving a lot of light.

"Your awake, good."

Oliver shot up and looked around, seeing for the first time that there was someone else in the room. A stunning woman, with long black hair and olive skin.

She was defiantly one of the more beautiful women he had ever seen.

"Wh…" He tried to speak, but apparently, only certain words came easily to him now. "Who, who are you." He managed, but his voice still sounded funny.

"I am Nyssa, Daughter of Ra's al Ghul, heir of the Daemon."

Oliver just looked at her. "Can I just call you Nyssa?"

Nyssa was taken aback by this, not the usual response.

Oliver just smiled, before looking around some more. He saw a glass of water, and grabbed it.

He froze, looking with wide eyes at the pale and purple thing that had grabbed the glass. He then slowly looked down and saw his arm, continuing to follow it until he saw his chest, all green, purple, and pale, with touches of blue. Not to mention the fact that his chest looked like t wanted to explode.

He screamed at this, jumping up and clawing at the skin, a term he used loosely, but that only resulted in the skin breaking and a horrible liquid dumping out of him.

Seeing that caused him to shut up from shock. But, then he realized that that liquid was his internal organs, which caused him to scream even louder.

He fell to the ground, stumbling backwards until he ran into some candles, which fell on him, lighting him on fire.

Nyssa, just stood there, really unable to think or do anything other than watch this man, she was only 90% certain of that, burn, still screaming in terror.

Eventually the fire stopped, and Nyssa was not sure what to do, but then the ash pile started to move, and, slowly but surely, the man came out of the ashes. Still looking dead, new maggots, and new dark clothing instead of the white clothes he burned in.

Instead of screaming, he was just babbling quietly to himself. Nyssa slowly approached and put a hand on him, which got his attention. "What has happened to me?"

"I don't know?" Nyssa said.

"Why did this happen to me?" He said, and Nyssa could tell that if he could have, he would have been crying.

"I don't know."

He didn't talk anymore, he just curled up and wept, or his body shaked like he was weeping but he didn't actually produce tears.

And Nyssa, for reasons she could not explain, just held him while he did so.

"How is our guest?" Ra's asked when Nyssa came to breakfast the next morning.

"He sleeps father. And other then setting himself on fire, has had no other problems."

"Good." Ra's said, continuing to eat, but he could feel her gaze on him. "You have questions, ask them."

"What is going on, you seem oddly unfased by all of this."

"I am Ra's al Ghul."

"This goes beyond your normal calm, this is you, knowing things others don't, which is normal yes, but I don't think even you could have predicted this man's existence."

Ra's looked thoughtful for a moment. "Sayf, stay, the rest, leave us." He said, and when they left and the door closed, he turned to Nyssa. "Years ago, a man came to me, this was before I was Ra's, before I had even joined the League, he told me to spend the night with my family, like it was my last. I did, and that night men from who served the League came, and told me I had to leave without goodbye or my family would suffer. Years later, he returned, and offered me training, it was because of him that I became my Ra's Horseman. After I became Ra's, he returned and gave me a list." He motioned for Sayf to come forward and the man gave Ra's an old piece of paper. "It described names, dates, and details, of many world events. World War 1 and 2, how they would start, who would win, even the names and outcomes of some battles. The Titanic, the invention of Electricity, the creation of America." He then gave Nyssa the list. "Read the last line."

Nyssa looked at it. "September 15, 1985, Hindu, the Kush Mountains, 2:16. " She then looked at her father. "I do not understand."

"Neither did I, but I followed the instructions. I found him, and he guided me to a temple my men and I had been searching for. He told me to go in and to save a young woman who was being attacked, her name, was Emily Raatko." Ra's said, starling Nyssa. "Somehow, he knew, he knew we would make a beautiful daughter together." He said smiling. "The last time I saw this man, was right before your birth, he told me to send you to the island, who to take with you, and that I would find a man there, and to use the pit on him, and through him, all my enemies would be brought low, and the League would expand in all directions. He also said, that you should be the one to care for him, and that we would both understand latter."

"And you intended that I should do this then. Care for this corpse."

"Everything he has ever told me, I have never had cause to regret it."

Nyssa did as her father commanded, albeit with some reluctance. She just, did not buy it. She had watch dead men rise out of the pits, feats of magic, and yes, even some prophecies come true.

But, prophecies were always about someone else, they weren't something that happened to you. And for every true prophecy, there were 10 million false ones.

Even if she did have to admit, the paper did make a very convincing argument.

Today, Nyssa was trying to see if Oliver had any skills in combat.

So far, they had proved less than ideal.

"Have you ever even used a blade before?"

"No, actually, all we had on the island were sticks. Slade had a sword, but he threatened to skin me alive if I ever touched it."

Nyssa then went and through some bastons, and then proceeded to beat the Oliver most thoroughly, several times. "You have no skill, and even less form." She said, striking him in the ribs, followed by a strike to his face. "And you have made a mess of the floor." She pointed to the pools of liquids

"Well I'm sorry, I didn't mean to come back to life as an imperfect zombie." Oliver said, trying to strike her again, only for Nyssa to jab the baston into his face again.

But this time, she miscalculated and instead of hitting hid cheek, went into his eye socket and imbedded in the brain.

"AHHHH!" Oliver yelled, stumbling back and clutching at the baston, trying to pull it out, the pain was extreme.

Nyssa took a step back, she had not actually wanted to hurt him like that. "Here, let me."

"You've done enough." Oliver said, lashing out.

It was an involuntary reaction, that was probably why it happened, he didn't actually think he would hit Nyssa. After all, none of his other attacks had hit her, why would this sloppy of one do anything.

But it was so fast, and so strong. One second Nyssa was walking toward Oliver, and the next she was flying uncontrollably though the air and into a wall.

When Oliver heard the thud, he looked over at Nyssa, the baston forgotten, and saw her lying on the floor, clutching her side and her arm. Instantly he was on his feet, and before he even knew what he was doing, Oliver had Nyssa in his arms and was running toward the room with the pit.

Nyssa awoke to feeling water being poured on her arm and side, and saw that it was her father, using the waters of the pit to heal her.

But, how had she been injured?

Then it came back to her, training Oliver, the baston, him lashing out.

She hadn't even seen his arm, one second it was trying to remove her weapon, and the next thing she knew she was flying, she hadn't even registered the hit until she was half way to the wall.

She then looked over and saw Al Ow-al, the priestess, and Oliver all standing a short distance off, when she saw Oliver, the baston still in his eye, he ran from the room.

Nyssa, once she had recovered properly, went looking for him, and found him curled up in a corner, looking at a candle. "What is wrong with me?" He asked.

Nyssa didn't respond, just walked closer and sat down to the left of him. "I think it might be funny, but to be honest, I didn't realize it sooner either, but then, I can't see them." He said, turning his head only slightly toward her. "Why didn't you realize it?"

"Realize what?" Nyssa asked.

"The maggots. They ate my eyes, my nose, and my ears, even a bit of my tongue. So why is it that I can see and hear you?"

Nyssa was about to answer, but then the question really hit her. It was a good one, how was he able to even function when one of his senses was gone, and three others must have been very limited? Moreover, why hadn't it registered when she looked at him that he should be blind? "What do you see?"

"I don't see color, not anymore. I just see lines, white against a black background. I see you, I see the candle, but it's as if someone put a thin clot over my eyes, not enough to blind me, but so that I only see the roughest of outlines." He then gave her back the baston. "I only ever killed

two men before, only one of them I meant to do it; he was threatening a dear friend's life. So I shot him with a bow her father had used to save me, the one she had used to teach me. Now, I couldn't hit a target that was ten feet wide." He then turned to her, and for the first time, she really saw his face, and the black holes that where once the places his eyes were kept. "I am sorry I hurt you, my lady."

Nyssa just smiled at him, "It is alright, you meant no harm." She said. "Come on, I have an idea."

They then walked in silence until they came to the training room. "We are going to help you see again." She said.

"How?"

"Simple." She then tossed the baston at him, gently, which he clumsily failed to grab. "I will throw, you will catch."

She then picked up another and threw it, and he failed agin.

She tossed, he failed.

She tossed, he failed.

She tossed, he failed.

She tossed, he failed.

She tossed, he failed.

She tossed, he failed.

And all the bastons in the room were on the ground. Nyssa then called for an assassin to have Alqat summoned here. A few minutes later she came. "Gather the bastons when they fall, and place them on the table." Nyssa ordered

She did as she was told, having gotten a stern talk some days earlier.

This continued for many hours, just tossing the baston , and by the end of it Oliver had actually gotten to a place where he could actually catch the baston about ¾th of the time.

"Well done." Nyssa said.

"Thank you my lady."

Over the following week, Nyssa continued to teach Oliver to use his sight again. He was making progress, catching the baston when she threw it at him now. Nyssa had been unable to find rest, and so was walking about the lower floors of the fortress. When she suddenly heard loud, banging noises, coming from where she knew Oliver was sleeping. She hurried to see what was the matter, but slowed when she heard the banging stop, and then stopped near the door to listen.

She heard him inside the room, sobbing like he had the night he was revived.

When she peeked around the doorframe, her jaw dropped. This was the first time she had actually been in the room since that night, and she did not recognize it.

The room was still well lit, but a few of the candles had been broken, probably when stone hit them. In the middle of the floor was a metal loop, probably a foot around the circumference, attached to it was a thick metal rope, about five feet long, coated in plastic.

At the end was Oliver, attached to the rope by a large metal ring with a very large lock on the front.

The floor that would have been within his reach was pulverized, and Nyssa could clearly see fist imprints in the destroyed ground, and saw Oliver was not only sobbing, but trying to remove rock pieces from his hand.

"Oliver"

Oliver looked up at her, startled, before calming when he saw it was her. "My lady, is something wrong?"

"Yes, why are you bound like this?" She asked, causing him to look away from him, ashamed. Nyssa would have none of that and so when walked up to him and made him look at her. "Why is this floor gravel?"

"I… have some rather awful nightmares; I don't wake up from them well." He said.

Nyssa just smiled at him. "I understand." Then she sat down. "I find myself unable to sleep, why don't you sit down, tell me about them."

Oliver looked conflicted, it was actually rather amazing how well Nyssa could read his deformed face, but sat down anyway. But he did not even open his mouth to speak.

Nyssa just guided his head to rest on her shoulder. "You know, I had nightmares, a lot of them actually. After my mother died, and we had her funeral, I was beside myself with grief, and all I could do was cry and dream of her cold, dead, face. So my father would sit me down in his chamber and I would tell him about the dreams, and he would let my sleep in his arms, just like we are doing now."

Oliver hesitated, but only for a moment. "I dreamed about that night."

When he did not continue, Nyssa prompted him. "The night of your death?"

"Yes, only, I wasn't fast enough, and someone else died."

Again he stopped. "Who?"

"My sister, Thea." He said, and this amazed Nyssa as it was the first time he had talked about his family. "I loved Thea, I love her. But more importantly, she loved me. To her, I wasn't the queen heir, a money bag with a handsome face, to her, I was her big brother, a god in human form. You know, when my parents brought her home, they found me asleep near the door. I had our maid, Raisa, take me to the store so I could by her a teddy bear." Oliver laughed at the memory. "I ended up buying her 20 of them. I was so mad that I had fallen asleep. Latter, when I was older, it did not matter whom I was with, what I was doing, whom I was doing, if she needed me I would drop any Russian model, any Victoria secret angle, and I would rush to her, she was my world. The only person I knew, without any doubt or hesitation that loved me, Oliver Queen, a man, not money." Oliver said, chocking on his words. "The idea that she could ever suffer, the idea that she was ever even harmed, or that she would suffer this fate, I would give my soul, my life, my very being to prevent that. In the dream, after she died, she looked at me with dead eyes, blaming me for her death."

Nyssa looked at him, trying not to get emotional at his words, clearly, this dream had affected him greatly, and, even clearer, was his devotion to this young girl. "I am sorry you have to suffer this way." She said, absently rubbing her hand up and down his arm, trying to calm him like her mother had so long ago. "I could stay with you a while."

The sentence just came out, shocking them both, and Oliver waited, giving her a chance to get out. "If you insist." He finally said, lying down after a moment.

Nyssa got a cot, and sat down on it, allowing Oliver to rest his head on her lap, stroking his head while she hummed a quite tune.

Ra's al Ghul was walking down to the lower levels of the fortress, he had heard some talk about what was happening, but wanted to see it for himself.

He slowly, silently peered around the corner and saw that his daughter and Oliver were asleep in the room, Oliver's head on her lap. He had heard this had been going on for some days, and he was most pleased.

Most pleased indeed.

Nyssa did not know what was happening; she really, had no clue, in any way. What was it about this man that was drawing her to him?

Nyssa was the Heir of the Daemon, she could have any man or woman in her bed, she had had men who resembled gods, so why would a rotted corps interest her. He was kind, and they had spent a lot of time together, she had told him things she had never told anyone, but why? She had always been guarded, from everyone, and she had known many members of the league for all of her life. However, for some reason, he was the one she could talk to effortlessly, that she felt at peace with.

He had been in the League for almost a year at that point. His training was going slowly, but always under her watchful eye, and he had developed a large amount. He practiced with his sword for hours, he shot arrows constantly, and he tried hand-to-hand moves. Nevertheless, it was just his sight and his speed that were wanting. He had the mussel memory down, but he just could not move fluidly or fast enough.

It wasn't his fault, the one thing one must remember about learning to fight, is that most styles assume certain things. Like you being able to see well, or hear well, or being alive.

And then there was his pain tolerance. She was sure, given what he had told her, that he could handle pain well. But he was in constant pain, he constantly felt like he was being ripped apart, burned, crushed, and exploding all at the same time. He could feel his cells dying, constantly dying and repairing themselves. But for some reason, his eyes, his ears, his tongue, they didn't repair themselves.

Nyssa was absently think about all of this while she sharpened her swords, something she could do in her sleep. She had just finished a mission, in Miami Florida, something Oliver said he was most jealous of and asked her to bring him back a mouse ear hat if she went by Orlando, something she had not understood.

She had seen pictures of Oliver, before he had been killed. He was handsome, on the outside at least. However, if what he had told her or what she had read was true, it was only skin-deep. He was vain, pigheaded, stubborn, and unfaithful. He had told her that, when on vacation sometimes, he had more sex 'in one day then a frat house had in a week'.

Whatever that meant, she had no idea what a frat house was.

He had then told her it was some form of legal male brothel for those seeking higher learning. Honestly, it still confused her.

Nevertheless, he did not lie to her about his past, and she did not lie to him. Oliver was very open about his fears, his shortcomings, his insecurities from his old life, which if you believed him, it was a long list. He told her how his reasons for getting on that boat with Sara, were really all about his fear of commitment, that he didn't want to take over his father's company, how all he really wanted was his sister's love, his parents understanding.

Honestly, those were both things she could easily relate to, thinking a moment about Talia.

Nyssa was so lost in her own little world that she didn't notice the slight sound of gas being released.

But then , the world started to darken, and it was too late.

Al Sah-Him was, something, not sure what yet, but it was defiantly something.

He had sworn his oath to Ra's six months ago, despite some members thinking him unworthy do to his lack of apparent skill. He had taken to teaching new recruits and the like, for while he did lack the necessary abilities to put them to use, Al Sah-Him was a dedicated student. He knew how to fight very well, even if he mostly lost.

But, today he felt distracted, like something wasn't right. He couldn't put his finger on it, like a snake was just around the corner, he just didn't know which one. But he worried it might have something to do with Nyssa.

Nyssa, she was out on an assignment, in Florida of all places, and she didn't even know what or who Disney was, he could have cried if he was able to make tears.

Over the last year, Nyssa had been his one light in the darkness. His protector, his confidant, his mentor, his, dare he say it, friend.

They were inseparable for the last nine months. Many members of the League had even begun calling him _klb mudallil_ , meaning lap dog.

But, he was proud of that name, he was proud to be her lap dog, her trusted. He knew that despite the fact that he was her lap dog, not her guard dog, was nothing to be ashamed of. Nyssa was a skilled fighter, to the point that she might kill anyone who thought she needed a guard dog. But she was also a woman, who occasionally needed someone to talk to, to cry on, to be vulnerable with, and he was happy to be that for her, and she was that with him.

He loved her, he knew that, and he thought she might love him, but obviously not like he did her. She could have anyone she wanted, anytime, anywhere. No one in their right mind would refuse her, whether that be because of her looks or because of her power. Even being almost blind as he was, for some reason her face was always a little clearer than anyone else, and he just knew she was beautiful.

He knew he could never have her, why would she ever want him. Everything in his life tasted like ash, any food or drink was chalk or dust, he hated knowing that if he ever kissed her, all he would taste was death. Nevertheless, he supposed that would be better than the sour taste of his own rotten flesh when she might kiss him. And worse still, he couldn't smell anymore, he was so jealous of everyone around him. He knew he should be grateful for his lack of smell, as it had protected him from the initiation process, which would have wiped away Oliver Queen and left only Al Sah-Him. Which, all things considered, he would not have minded forgetting all the pain he had suffered as Oliver, it would mean losing his friends, his parents, and most of all his sister.

Something he would never allow.

But he also hated never being able to simply bask in the sent of the woman he loved. Or being able to smell the spices of Nanda Parbat, or the clean mountain air, or anything ever again.

He couldn't even feel her warmth when he slept on her lap, or he held her as they talked. He had discovered this rather quickly after burning alive after being revived. He didn't feel the pain of heat, but of a cold fire, which if that even made any sense, was worse. Instead of feeling the flame, he felt all the little details of burning alive, the skin cracking, melting, boiling, and bubbling, it was a truly, unique, way to die. Add it on top of the constant pain he was in from dying and repairing himself, and repairing himself while burning, and you had a very interesting thing going.

But, he would soldier on, he would be her lap dog, her loyal, her rock. If everyone else abandoned her, he would stand by her even more, if she ever felt tired, or needed rest, he would give her that, if she was overwhelmed, he would fix it. He owed her that much just for helping him as she had, but he would do it simply to see her smile.

And, if one day, one, horrible, day, she got married. He would protect her still, and her chosen. If they had children, he would cherish and protect them, just as he did their mother.

And if that, swine, ever, harmed her, or her child, if he was responsible for so much as a hair being out of place on her head, or one tear formed in her eyes, Al Sah-Him would rip the man apart, he would pluck ever cell from his body. Crucifixion would be too good for that worm, and he would find something worse, much worse.

He was brought out of his musings by one of his students, Sarab, formally Maseo Yamashiro, who along with several others were practicing archery. "Sarab, no." He said, taking the bow from him, stopping his other students. "You breath, everything breaths, you breath, you live longer. Take in a breath, see your target, feel the wind, hear the bow string tighten, and then release the string, then the breath." He then showed them, hitting the target in the 4th ring. "And, pull the string back and the bow forward, it will be smoother for you, leading to faster and more accurate firing." He then handed the bod back to Sarab, but heard someone mumbling. "What was that?" He asked, facing in the direction of the mumbling.

He wouldn't have known who it was, had they not suddenly straitened up, trying to look innocent. "If you have something to say, say it loudly, I am hard of hearing." He said, walking up to the still silent students. He put his hand on one of their shoulders. "Nothing to say?"

Abigale was her name, not yet a full member of the group, who was attractive he supposed from what little he could see, if the gossiping other male students were anything to go by. The other one's name was Abena, she was from West Africa, apparently her name meant 'born on Tuesday'. Clearly, her parents lacked a certain originality, she was also considered attractive apparently, and also not yet a full member, both of them were in their early 20s, he thought he had heard that Abena was the younger one of the two. They had both remained silent.

Al Sah-Him's hand was on Abena's shoulder, he then moved it to her throat and squeezed, just slightly and lifted her up a bit. This got the whole classes attention. "Wow, let her go." Abigale said, drawing an arrow and stabbed it into his arm. The injury should have made him drop her, if not from pain, then from stabbing the inside of his elbow, all it did was anger him, so, faster than normal for him, he grabbed her too. Now everyone was paying attention. "Sarab, please remove my head scarf, quickly for their sake." He said.

Sarab moved quickly, and the scarf wraped around his head was quickly removed, revealing the grotesque, bloated head underneath. If you have ever seen a fat lip, or someone who's eye is swollen, or a cartoon where someone is hit on the head and the get a large bump.

He looked like that, only color it the most sickly shade of green you can think of, have his whole head look like that, add the occasional hair to his face or head, and the remove the eyes, nose, a piece of his lower lip, and have maggots crawling out of a hole in his cheek and all over his face, going in and out of his eyes and ear holes.

Everyone their had heard of Nyssa's lap dog being special in some way, but this was, something else, something they never expected. "I don't like chit chat in my classes. So, what were you saying?" He asked again, now, without the cloth, his voice wasn't muffled, making it resonate and sound more gravelly; his breath stunk, as did his whole, self. When they didn't answer, his stuck his tongue out. "Having a tongue is not required for training, and I can last all day, how are you doing?" He then squeezed a little more to emphasize the point.

"They were saying how they thought you didn't know what you were talking about, as you didn't hit the target very well." A student behind the other two said.

Al Sah-Him just smiled. "See, not there is someone who knows what is good for them." He then dropped the two girls before taking his scarf back and wrapping it back around his head again. "You will both not leave this room until you have both put 200 arrows in that target, each. Am I understood?" He said. When he didn't get a response, he looked down at them, somehow making the lack of facial feature intimidating. "AM I, understood?"

"As you command." They both said quickly, getting up and began firing.

"The rest of you are dismissed." He said, and they all quickly left.

Al Sah-Him was walking down the halls from the library. He had taken up reading with Nyssa, or more her reading out loud and him listening, due to the sleepless nights he got from nightmares and a general lack of need for sleep, when he heard someone running toward him.

He looked up and saw Sayf running to him. "What is it?" He asked, instantly worried. Sayf was rarely away from their master's side, usually on an assignment where even someone like Al-Owal would find difficulty. But never inside Nanda Parbat.

"Nyssa, she has been taken."

Sayf expected many reactions from the man, what he got was, very unexpected. Al Sah-Him laughed. "No, no. Nyssa, taken? You are joking. She is too well trained." When Sayf didn't laugh or tell him something different, Al Sah-Him tensed. "What, who would be so… I'm not sure I know a word that would describe that level of complete disregard for one's self-preservation."

"It was Darhk. He sent word, demanding Ra's life for his daughter. Darhk plans to torture Nyssa every day and send the video to Ra's until she dies or he surrenders."

"What did Ra's say?"

"For Darhk to go to hell."

"But, Nyssa… what will happen to her?"

"Ra's has ordered everyone to come in, Darhk has threatened to kill Nyssa if anyone from the Leauge but Ra's is seen aproching the building where she is being kept."

This sparked Al SAh-Him's interest. "So, they know where she is?"

"Darhk told him, in case our master changed his mind. It was 35674 Dekker Lane, the Danial's Building in Miami Florida." Sayf said.

Al Sah-Him went back to his room. If it was within his own power, he would save Nyssa himself. He had gone to Ra's offering his support in anyway, which was appreciated by Ra's, and no one else.

Everyone simple wrote him off, saying that he could do nothing but get in the way if they were to attempt to rescue Nyssa, and they were probably right. What could he do.

He examined the information they had gathered, and as he had nothing to offer, he left.

While he walked back to his room, the more he thought, the more hart broken he was. 500 men were in that building, at least, 35 floors, and a lot of security cameras. It was a suiside mission at best.

He then came into his room and was so distracted he kicked something.

He then looked down, and saw a package.

' _Mail? In Nanda Parbat. I wonder what the postage cost?'_ He wondered as he opened it. In side were four things. A vial that said platypus venom, a syringe, and two pieces of paper. He looked at the first one, and was shocked to be able to read it.

 **Oliver.**

 **I know, you're scared, scared for Nyssa, but don't be. It won't make sense, not yet anyway, but you do have help.**

 **Your power, comes from pain, pain from within yourself and from others, you have just yet to master how to do that. If you want to save Nyssa, you have to hurt yourself, a lot. If you break a bone, the pain generated is enough to heal your injury, so you need to suffer, in a way that is both terrible, and causes minimal damage.**

 **Take one full shot of the venom in each limb. And, this is the hard part, you need to focus on Nyssa, on how much she means to you, while it is taking effect. Focus on Disney also, remember how much fun it was to go there as a child, remember your favorite ride, try and picture it in your mind as clear as you can.**

 **And don't lose my second letter.**

 **Good luck.**

AL Sah-Him was, well, shocked. Who, what, and why were all questions he now had, and more.

However, as he thought about it, it made sense, a disturbing amount of it. He was always faster and stronger after being injured, he only now realized that he always had one of those freak flashes of speed after being hurt.

But platypus venom, that was very extreme. It was used for torture by some very unsavory characters, which raised the question of how someone got their hands on a full vial, roughly two ounces he would guess, when very little was produced by the animals and only during winter months of Austrialia.

But, if it saved Nyssa… there was no question necessary.

He put the notes in his pocket, focused on Disney and Nyssa, and then filled the syringe and gave himself a shot.

He worked quickly, a shot in each arm and leg, and then put the vial and the syringe on a table.

At first, nothing happened, which was weird as the venom should start to work instantly, may be it wasn't fre… BANG.

The pain hit him like a train going 100 miles an hour. It was overwhelming and it took a moment for him to breathe again. He tried to focus on Nyssa, and Disney. He pictured the arch for the fake Spanish restaurant, on the sound and feel of the ride, and the cement floor with the gems in the ground, and the laughing of children.

Then his world started to spin.

As he opened his eyes, the pain was still there, but it was a background noise now. As he looked around, he was shocked.

He was at Pirates of the Caribbean, his favorite ride at Disney.

He walked out of the building and saw that it was nighttime, so no one was around other than the occasional security sweep, but he could avoid them easily enough. He just couldn't believe it, how was this possible.

Thinking fast, he took out the second note.

 **Well done teleporting for the first time. Now, think of the Land of Tomorrow.**

He did, he focused really hard, and his world spun again.

But then, he was there, in the middle of Tomorrow Land. Al Sah-Him was about ready to jump for joy.

 **To you left is the Magic Mover ride, run and jump, try and pull yourself up onto it.**

It sounded crazy, but the letter had not been wrong yet, so he ran and jumped.

And he got the ledge and pulled himself up onto the track for the ride.

 **Good, now look over at the Laugh Floor line area, and want to go there, but also, focus on grabbing one of the metal poles.**

He did that, and a moment later, without getting dizzy, he was there, with his hand around the pole.

 **Good, so, slow down.**

What?

"Hay, somethings, over there." Al Sah-Him heard a voice say, he then looked over and saw a security guard.

The man, who seemed to be in his 40s, drew a gun and told him to freeze. Al Sah-Him stood up and turned to him, which showed off the sword on him belt.

The man fired, and the bullets, slowed down, and then stopped.

That was, weird. Al Sah-Him walked over to the bullets and caught them. He then looked at the man who was also frozen, and then back at the letter.

 **This is one-half time dilation, one-half speed. You didn't freeze time, it's just moving so slow that you can't see any movement. This is how you managed to grab the pole. Over time, all of these abilities will become second nature to you. For the moment, I would suggest going someplace else, consciously maintaining the time dilation is hard, he's starting to move again because of you lack of focus.**

Al Sah-Him looked up and saw that the guy's eyes were widening, so he quickly ducked into the bathroom. To his great surprise, he heard the man who was 30 feet away at least and through a door speaking. "Jake, I just saw some guy in a ninja suit with a sword disappear right in front of me."

" _Really?"_

"Yeah, I shot right at him, and my bullets disappeared and so did he."

" _Mark, have you been drinking again?"_

How was he able to hear so well? He then looked in a mirror, and froze.

He saw, himself. His face was less bloated, but still some and discolored, but he had eyes, two cloudy silver eyes, but still eyes, and ears, he had ears, he even had a nose, but could still only smell dust and ash.

 **You have a form of night vision at the moment, which is why this dark room at night seems so bright, and with time, your gaze will be able to see miles as clearly as you once saw a few feet from yourself. But for now, practice the short range time dilation and you teleportation ability**

Al Sah-Him did just that, and after an hour, was able to move in and out of the time dilation was second nature, as easy as walking. The teleportation took a bit more work, he started with short distances, but after a hour, was able to manage about a mile.

He could traverse continents if he knew the place well. Which found him popping between his favorite ski resorts in Switzerland, a beach in Hawaii, the clubhouse at the Pine Country Club in Starling, even his old bedroom, and the plane on Lian Yu.

However, if he did not actually have a picture in his head, he was stuck only moving a mile at a time unless he could see it. In which case time dilation was easier, and walking past people, seeing life captured like in a snap shot, it was an interesting thing to see indeed.

He then got an idea, and quickly looked up an image of the front of a building near where Nyssa was being kept, and picturing it, tried to go there.

It took a few tries, no personal tie to let him really picture where he wanted to go, but eventually he managed to feel the world spinning, and opening his eyes up, there he was, a block away from Nyssa.

Getting upstairs and on the roof was simple, and Oliver quickly surveyed the landscape of the building, he needed to find her.

Then, as he looked down on the ground, he saw a note held down by a rock.

 **You can feel the pain of others, use that. Clear you mind, close your eyes, and just picture the building, just stay like that for several minutes, don't try to force it, it will come to you, slowly. Give it time, let the full picture develop. Darhk is having his men hurt Nyssa more, he hopes that if he makes her look beaten and bloody enough that Ra's will give himself up. She will be like a beacon compared to the others, use that for your guide.**

Al Sah-Him hated the idea of Nyssa being hurt more, but followed the instructions. He cleared his mind, and pictured the building, giving as much detail as he could, seeing the 35 floors, the windows, and even the cubicles he could see.

It took maybe to minuets, but slowly little lights started to appear, and he saw details being added, exits, bathrooms, break rooms, offices, desks, even plants on the desks. He saw more lights, some dim, some brighter, moving around. There were 100 lights on the first 3 floors, and 75 on the 34th and 35th floor. Another 425 men were dispersed throughout the building, making 600 in all.

Well, what's another hundred opponents one way or the other.

Then he saw it, a bright light, brighter than all the others by far, floor 23, near the middle, with camera equipment and an observation room. Al Sah-Him smiled and then opened his eyes, looking at the note again.

 **Room 15, floor 32, it's a relay station for information H.I.V.E. uses, there are three men inside, kill the two white men, and use the black man's thumb print to access the data, then kill him slowly.**

 **Copy it onto the 5481D7 flash drive, eject it, and then kill the rest of them.**

Al Sah-Him took a moment to find the room in his mental map, then tried to teleport into it.

Suddenly he was there.

Slowing time, he killed the two white guys by slicing their heads off, and had the black man's head in a hold before the others had hit the floor, pushing it onto the scanner, he took a moment for a restricted file to open, which said log so he assumed that's what it was, and copied it onto the flash drive.

It was a new type that held a full 256 GB and was very fast, so it was able to handle the full log.

He then killed the man by sabing a knife into his color bone and let him bleed out when he pulled it out.

Looking down at the man, he saw another note in his vest pocket.

 **Focus on their pain, take it, use it for fuel, and become invincible.**

He saw that he had a lot of time, so he focused hard, touching the man as he died, and he could feel it, the pain the man was experiencing as he died, and as he foucused on that feeling, he felt the power it gave him.

 **Eventually, with enough power and training, you will be able to take the life force itself from armies. But for now, speed the drive up and go save Nyssa.**

Al Sah-Him looked at the screen and saw that even with the speed of the system and the drive, it would take at least ten minutes. So he focused on it, willed it to go faster, and suddenly the seconds started ticking faster, and faster, until ten minutes had become one, and the drive was out.

Nyssa was at this moment, having metal pushed into the space between her fingers and nails, after being whipped and having salt rubbed in her wounds, and several needles of varying length shoved into her lower breasts, down behind her shoulder blades, the base of her left ear into her eardrum rendering that ear deaf, and her feet had had sand paper used on them and were currently in a dish od alcohol.

She had also had several ribs broken, a fractured collarbone, had been whipped several times, had had several long needles pushed into the mussels of her legs and arms, with smaller ones in her stomach, shoulders, back, and sides, and she had long cuts going down her side.

To the untrained eye, this would look like she might die any minuet, but Darhk had several doctors around to make sure she lived. All the wounds, while painful, where superficial, either being not very deep or, in the case of the needles, were thin and any blood loss was being stopped by the needles being still in the wounds.

When her captors finished pushing them in, they began attaching wires to them. "Miss Raatko, we are now going to be running current through the wires, into the metal, and then you. Do to the place meant and control the machines give us, we should be able to keep this going for days before any permanent damage is done." Her main torturer, a Mr. Angelo, said. He had an evil looking sneer on his face; something Nyssa thought might have been glued on. He had darker skin, a silver suit, and enjoyed his work far too much in her opinion.

Nyssa was about to come up with some witty retort, but then a loud crash drew everyone's attention.

Or it would have, had the crash not been the sound of every person in the room falling to the ground while clutching at their stomachs to stop the bleeding.

Slowly, Angelo turned around, and Nyssa was shocked to see Al Sah-Him standing there with a sword drawn, blood dripping off the blade.

"Eleven, twelve, thirteen." Al Sah-Him counted as he looked around the room, thirteen in all, plus this other guy. He then looked up at the shocked man, and gave him a smile. "Don't blink."

Suddenly, Nyssa had no idea how; the man was on the ground, his Achilles tendons having been severed. Nyssa then felt something touch her arm and looked over to see Al Sah-Him standing next to her, gently examining her wounds. Nyssa was shocked to see him looking at her with silver eyes. "You think you have the right to touch her, to even look upon her." He asks the man.

He then touches Nyssa's head, and she falls asleep.

As Nyssa woke up, she found herself in a perfectly warm bath. Quickly taking stock of her injuries, she found that other than being a little sore, she no longer had any wounds. She then heard a sound, and looked up and saw Al Sah-Him walk into the room, carrying a bottle of lotion and a hair brush.

He also had two screwdrivers imbedded in his eyes. "Are you awake?" He asked.

"Yes." Nyssa said, trying to sort through her thoughts to see if it had all been a dream. And trying to think of what the screwdrivers were for.

As if hearing her thought, he spoke. "I did this to preserve your modesty. If I ever see your body, I want it to be because you showed it to me, not because you were injured."

"And shoving metal into your eyes?"

"It was the only way, a cloth in front of my face didn't work." He said, sitting down on the edge of the tub. Looking around, Nyssa took stock of the room, seeing that she was in what appeared to be a very expensive marble bathroom, with high ceilings and a mirror on the ceiling, nice looking artwork, and silk towels and bathrobes. Her companion took a bowl that had been sitting on the edge, and dipping it into the water, poured it out over her neck and shoulders, and then lifting her up, refiled the bowl and poured it over her hair.

"Oh." Nyssa said, she knew she should be offended that he was babying her, but it was just so nice. "So when did you get eyes?"

"I recently discovered that pain increases my abilities, I injected myself with platypus venom to heal myself so I could save you."

Nyssa was taken aback by this. "You what?"

"I injected myself with 40 mL of venom, 10 in each limb, and then after practicing some tricks I was taught by some mysterious person who gave me the venom, I went and recued you, killed everyone in that building, and then bought a room at this hotel and have been nursing you back to health for the last two hours."

Nyssa just sat there, absorbing the information. "Why not you start at the beginning. What happened after you got there?"

With Nyssa asleep, Al Sah-Him strode over to Angelo and picked him up by the neck. "Time to suffer." And then he brought his arm around and stabbed Angelo in the arm, he then opened his hand to reveal a large syringe. "Your probably wondering what this is, truth is, I'm not really sure myself. I met a nice doctor a few hours ago, nice lady, asked her to whip it up; after she saw my sword, she didn't argue. I'm told, it's got a hallucinogen in it that make LSD look like a pixie stick, some sodium thiopental, a dash of heroin, and then some drug I can't even begin to pronounce that increases the signals to the brain, and my own addition, a rare blue flower grown in the mountains near Nanda Parbat. What does that mean for you?" He then hit the man and dropped him. "Well, the hallucinogen will disorient you and increase the effectiveness of my blue flower, as will the heroin, the sodium thiopental will lower your brains defenses, and the last drug will make it so even a light breeze flowing against your skin feel like your burning alive." He then gave him one more injection. "A mild paralytic, don't want you to get any idea while I'm gone."

He then turned the man over on his side, just in case, as he didn't want him choking on his own vomit, and then he left the room.

The 29th floor.

Al Sah-Him quickly went down there and got to work. There were nine men doing a patrol through a hall. Just as they were about seven feet to round the corner, he came around, drew his sword, and barged right through them, removing the men's limbs just as they were drawing their guns.

Looking back, he saw nine men, nine guns on the floor, and nine hands holding those guns.

He almost felt sorry for the crime scene cleanup crew, that amount of blood would not be easy to clean.

The 22th floor.

He came around a corner again, this time twirling to take the back half of the first two men's heads off, then down to cut the third in half. He then snapped up, grabbing the man to his right in a reverse head lock, breaking his neck, while the left he sliced up through his middle, causing his organs to all fall out.

The other three got their guns and the first two started to shoot, they got about 90 shots in as they ran away from him into a more open office space.

He just lunged under the bullet fire, rolling over and, pushing himself up like a headstand, kicked the first man in the face, knocking him back into his comrades. He then grabbed his gun arm and dropped his sword, and stabbed him through the arm with a sword that he had got from the torture room, through his tendons so he wouldn't drop the gun, and into the chest of the man behind him and forcing the rest of the sword into the wall. Al Sah-Him then dove for his sword, and sliced the legs out from underneath them men, leaving their bodies held up by the sword in the wall.

The last man kept firing, but Al Sah-Him just moved slowly toward him, and to the man's terror, he was somehow dodging every shot the man sent at him, as he was backed into a dead end.

Until he had fired all 300 rounds from his gun, and he heard a click.

He looked down at his gun, not wanting to believe it was empty, but then he saw all the shell casings on the ground around him, the floor looked like it was solid gold.

Then the man looked up and saw Al Sah-Him standing in front of him, who with two solid punches, twirled him around and stabbed a knife into the man's hand, before he tied the other hand up with it.

Al Sah-Him then brought his sword up and cut the man's cheek. "Tell others, and especially your boss, never touch her again."

He then turned at the sound of movement, and ran out again into the open office to see 25 men behind the many cubicles, all pointing their automatic weapons at him. The moment they saw him they opened fire.

"So then what happened?" Nyssa asked as he carried her into the main room of the suite. Al Sah-Him having gotten her a robe to put on, she had then quickly removed the screwdrivers.

"I had a stroke of brilliance, or insanity."

Al Sah-Him drew a second sword and, twirling them in front of him, used them to deflect the 453 bullets as he ran through the room, causing the bullets to ricochet away from him and back at his attackers, slicing through anyone to make sure they were dead.

The last man in the room looked at Al Sah-Him, shocked at what he had seen.

Al Sah-Him just ran up to the man and punched him, disarming him and then dragged him along with him to the 35th floor.

The 35th floor.

Dragging his unwilling companion, Al Sah-Him was met with a lot of men and guns, 60 of them to be exact. Depositing the man on the floor, Al Sah-Him ran through the room at an impossible speed.

What the man did not know was that he was dilating time by a factor of five.

Without even a sword, he dodged 600 rounds, punching and kicking, draining them of energy until all that remained was a his captive and a 60 bodies.

He then got a grenade and through it at the opening door of the stair well that. Hitting the man who was opening it and causing an explosion, killing the other 15 guys, he then turned to his captive. "Tell others, and especially your boss, never touch her again."

And then he left him, but not before stabbing a knife into his foot, pinning him to the ground.

"So, then what happened?" Nyssa asked, sitting down on a very comfortable sofa.

"Well, by then they had realized that I was coming to save you, so I had to get you out of there."

Al Sah-Him picked up Nyssa's unconscious form, he then walked over to the man who, if it wasn't for the paralytic, would have been screaming in both terror and agony. Putting his hand on the man, he drained him as well, and then quickly healed Nyssa's injuries.

He then teleported to outside the Conrad Hotel.

200 men burst onto the 23rd floor, pouring in from stairwells and the four elevators.

Al Sah-Him walked right up to the front desk and rang the bell. "Yes sir, how may I help youuuu." The man, Max his name tag said, went wide eyed when he saw the man, who to him looked very sickly.

"Hello, I would like a suit, if you don't mind."

"Umm…" Max just kept staring.

"Is something the matter?"

Finally some of the men ran into the room, guns raised, but they didn't find Nyssa, only a lot of dead people. "Find her." One of them shouted.

"Ummmm."

"I'm so sorry sir." A younge looking woman, Jessica was on her name tag, as was the word manager, said. "We have a number of suits open, were you looking for anything in particular?"

"Marble bathrooms would be nice; a view of the city or the bay, something without skyscrapers would be nice; and something away from the elevators would be good."

"One moment please."

Running like chickens with their head cut off, the men looked through every office, under every desk, behind every plant, and even in every trash can.

"Yes, I have just the thing for you and your friend." Jessica said.

"Sorry?"

"The young woman you carried in here and set on the chair." Jessica then pointed to Nyssa. "Is she all right?"

"Yeah, just. She met up with an old friend of her fathers, I had to rescue her from a rather, unpleasant situation with him." Al Sah-Him then leaned forward. "I think there was more than coke in that drink he gave her, if you know what I mean."

"I understand, would you like me to send up some food, Mr..."

"Hammond. George Hammond. Two steaks, raw, mash potatoes, Yukon gold if you have it, baby asparagus, raw, the blackest Coffee you have, water, vitamin water, and some Gatorade." He said, handing her a stack of hundreds. "Also," He grabbed a pad of paper and wrote out a short list. "these spices if you would please."

Jessica looked at the list. "Sure thing." She then turned around and got a key. "Room 3205. Enjoy your stay."

"Thank you." Al Sah-Him said, before going to pick up Nyssa and carry her to the elevator.

Jessica then turned to Max. "Take care of this will you." She said, giving him the list. "And, Max, try to be more professional, you don't want to do that when it's Comic Con season. Trust me, I've been doing this for ten years, that group is even weirder then the Adult Cons we have around here sometimes."

"Where the hell is that…"

Al Sah-Him drew Nyssa a bath, and then, after gouging his eyes out, he got Nyssa out of her cloths and into the bath. He then sprinkled some bath salts and lotion into the water, and after insuring that she wouldn't drown, left the room.

"…Bitch?"

Al Sah-Him removed the screwdrivers and grabbed his bow and sword. "You dare to call my lady a bitch."

The body count was pointless after that, as would trying to describe how many different ways these men, or more accurately, fools, met their end. Nevertheless, know that it was quite terrible.

At some point, he stopped slicing and dicing them, and just went ahead and pulled them apart.

Eventually, he got down to the third floor, where, for lack of a better term, the men were making their last stand.

It was going to be a massacre.

Al Sah-Him had taken one of the men captive, and just like another six men, Al Sah-Him incapacitated him, this one he did by having nailed him to the inside of the elevator. The man was very scared, especially when he saw all the barrels in the elevator.

This one was the freight elevator that only went from the fifth floor to the three parking levels, so it could easily carry the men and the barrels.

"Now, are you watching carfully?" Al Sah-Him asked. "I don't want you to miss this." He then picked up a barrel. "And remember, tell others, and especially your boss, never touch her again."

When the doors opened, he was gone, as were the barrels.

Suddenly there was a flash, and the man looked out the open doors, to see more then 100 men, burning alive, with the Man in Black, who had killed so many, standing at the other end of the room, laughing.

When the doors opened, time stopped. Al Sah-Him walked out to find the men all frozen. "What do I feel like right now?" He then turned to a random guy. "You got any ideas?" He asked, then he turned to another. "How about you?"

No one answered.

"Rude. Very rude." He then grabbed one of the barrels, brought it over to the first guy, and opened it. " _Oh, death where is your sting? Oh, Hell, where is your victory._ " He then poured some of the liquid inside onto the man, then went onto the next one. "No, not it. _I was, strolling through the park on day, in the very marry month of May, I was taken by surprise,_ _by a pair of roguish eyes._ No, not it either." He said, still dousing the men, but then he had to get another barrel. " _I see trees of green, red roses too, I see them bloom for me and you, and I think to myself what a wonderful world._ " He smiled, that was the one.

 _I see trees of green, red roses too_

He went and got the other barrel, and began dousing more men.

 _I see them bloom for me and you_

He started to skip around while he did it. Getting the liquid everywhere.

 _And I think to myself what a wonderful world_

He poured some on the walls.

 _I see skies of blue and clouds of white_

He poured some on the floor, making a trail between the men.

 _The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night_

Then he doused some more men.

 _And I think to myself what a wonderful world_

And some more.

 _The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky_

And some more, and then made the trail bigger, going back and forth.

 _Are also on the faces of people going by_

Up and down.

 _I see friends shaking hands saying how do you do_

Left to right.

 _They're really saying I love you_

Every which way. Until everything and everyone was covered.

 _I hear babies crying, I watch them grow_

He then set the last barrel down, they were all empty.

 _They'll learn much more than I'll never know_

It took him a moment, but he eventually found a lighter, and it worked. He dropped the lighter.

 _And I think to myself what a wonderful world_

And then time started. And the all burned.

" _Yes I think to myself what a wonderful world."_

"You burned them alive." Nyssa said.

"Is that disapproval I hear in your voice?"

"Pride." She said, then they heard a knock on the door.

Al Sah-Him went and opened the door. "Jessica, come in."

Nyssa looked up at the hall leading to the door, a moment later a woman came in pushing a cart into the room. "Come on Rob, don't keep them waiting."

Another man, Rob, came in, just staring at Al Sah-Him. "Is something wronge?" Nyssa asked.

"Oh, your awake, wonderfull." Jessica said, walking over to the girl. "I heard you had a fun party."

"You, could say that." Nyssa then looked at Al Sah-Him who was examining the food and spices on the carts. "He was a real life saver."

"Oh, good. When a man brings in an unconscious woman, have to check these things."

"And good on you for doing it Jessica." Al Sah-Him said, before looking at Rob. "Is there something on my face?"

"Umm."

Jessica jumped in. "Oh, no sir, nothings wronge." She then glared at Rob.

"It's all right Jessica. I have a rare skin condition, causes the first few layers of skin to come off easily, and they don't receive enough nutrients to maintain color and things, not the prettiest sight, I know."

"It's not, contagious is it?" He asked.

"We only want to know so we can properly treat the room afterwards." Jessica quickly jumped in.

"No." Al Sah-Him said smiling. "It's not, and I'm not offended Jessica, you have a right to know certain things about your guests. Now, if you don't mind, I have meal to prepare and Samantha needs her rest."

"Of Course Mr. Hammond, Rob."

"Have a pleasant evening sir." Rob said, and they both left.

"Samantha, really?"

"I think I saw that on a T.V. show once. Do you like it?"

"It is acceptable. And the rare skin condition?"

"See previous statement."

"I didn't know you could cook." Nyssa said, takeing a bite of the meal Al Sah-Him had made for her.

"I have to keep some secrets." Al Sah-Him said. "When I was young, my parents weren't around much. I mean, they were there, they did stuff with me, and compared to people like Tommy and his father, my parents would win awards. But, they weren't present, Raisa, our cook, she was like a mother to me, she taught me many things, how to cook being one of them."

"You loved her."

"Yeah. It is weird, being dead; you really appreciate life so much more. I am full of love, always have been, I loved Raisa, Thea, Laurel, Sara, my parents, Tommy, even his father. I just didn't always show it the right way."

"That is sweet."

"Thank you." He said, eating his steak, wishing it wasn't ashes in his mouth. "You know, there is one other person I love, but I don't know how?"

"Really?" Nyssa said. "What do you mean?"

"Well, she's smart, funny, a goddess if there ever was one. But, her heart is worth so much more than any of that. She has such passion, such a wonderful spirit; I can't describe it because of the awe I am in."

"Sound like quite a girl." Nyssa said. She then stood up and sat down next to him. "Why didn't you ever go after her, sounds like something you would have done?"

"She was too good for me. And now, well, I don't think I'm a catch anymore."

"Oh, come on, you're not that bad."

"I'm a walking corps, who wants to kiss someone and taste sour meat."

"You're selling yourself short." Nyssa said, putting her head on his shoulder. "I think you're wonderful."

Al Sah-Him smiled when she said that, and put his head on hers. "Thank you." He said, and when she looked up at him, he kissed her.

A moment later, he realized what he had done and teleported to the North Pole as a result.

Nyssa was passing in her room.

"Idiot, you idiot, why else would he do what he did, of course he's in love with you, and only an idiot wouldn't have seen it." Nyssa had been berating herself like a girl in a cheap romance novel.

To be fair, it was the fault of the 72 year old retired school teacher who fell asleep reading one on a plane 9 years ago who got her into them, how was she supposed to know what it was.

Suddenly, she heard something come from the hall leading to the door. When she went over to investigate, she found a note on a small package.

 **I hope you understand.**

She opened the package, and there was a disk inside.

(They Long To Be)  
CLOSE TO YOU  
(Mel David - Burt Bacharach)

A&M Records on the left.

 **STEREO** US Songs Inc. ASCAP. Time: 3:40 (1962-5) on the right.

 **CARPENTERS**  
Aranged by Richard Carpenter  
Produced by Jack Daugherty

1183

There was also a note inside. **Play me on the thing on the desk under the T.V.**

It took Nyssa a minuet to find the device and another minuet to set it up properly, but eventually she hit play.

 _Why do birds suddenly appear  
Every time you are near?  
Just like me, they long to be  
Close to you_

 _Why do stars fall down from the sky  
Every time you walk by?  
Just like me, they long to be  
Close to you_

 _On the day that you were born the angels got together  
And decided to create a dream come true  
So they sprinkled moon dust in your hair  
Of golden starlight in your eyes of blue_

 _That is why all the girls in town  
(Girls in town)  
Follow you  
(Follow you)  
All around  
(All around)  
Just like me, they long to be  
Close to you_

 _On the day that you were born the angels got together  
And decided to create a dream come true  
So they sprinkled moon dust in your hair  
Of golden starlight in your eyes of blue_

 _That is why all the girls in town  
(Girls in town)  
Follow you  
(Follow you)  
All around  
(All around)  
Just like me, they long to be  
Close to you  
Just like me, they long to be  
Close to you_

 _(Why? Close to you)  
(Why? Close to you)  
(Haa, close to you)  
(Why? Close to you)_

As Al Sah-Him walked around the frozen north, all he could think about was what an idiot he was. Kissing Nyssa, what was he thinking.

Well, he wasn't really thinking, and once again it got him in trouble.

But, just as he was starting to think about setting up here permanently, maybe go looking for Santa, he found, of all things, another note.

No, really, he had to hit himself a few times to make sure he wasn't going crazy. There was another one of those notes, tied to, of all things, a pole in the ground.

 **Tell her you flipping moron.**

Oh, sure, like that was a good idea. Then he flipped the note over.

 **Laurel.**

Now that was not fighting fare at all.

Nyssa had not moved for the whole song. It was beautiful, it was just, beautiful.

"I don't suppose sorry, would cut it."

Nyssa turned around to see Al Sah-Him standing there. "I'm so sorry Nyssa, I don't know what came over me." He said, bowing his head to her.

"Why."

"Why?"

"Why kiss me."

He chuckled at this. "You already know why. If there is a better woman on Earth then you, I don't know who they are. You, you are might light in the dark places, you are my hope, my reason to exist." He said, slowly walking around. "I have lost, everyone and thing that ever gave me meaning. My looks, my money, my fame, my sister, my parents, my friends. When I went on that boat, it was to napalm a relationship with a woman who, being totally honest, could have done a lot better than me. My, only good qualities, before the island, were money and looks, and I lost both on the island. But for some reason, you, a woman who, if a single hair that fell from your head was judged, it would be found to be worth more than ten of me, found me worth your time."

"My father ordered that I take care of your recovery."

"That's true. Did he also tell you to sleep with me through my night terrors, or to train me as patiently as you did, or to comfort me at my lowest points?" Al Sah-Him then walked up to Nyssa. "I could never be worthy of you, even before I died, and now, now I just have to hope you will take pity on a love sick beast, and not through him out. Because if I have to live like this, being in your presence is enough to make it worthwhile." He begged.

Nyssa's only response was a kiss.

Al Sah-Him instantly pulled away. "What?" Nyssa asked, rather offended.

"Don't pity me."

"I'm not. I'm loving you."

Al Sah-Him was, well, shocked might be an understatement. "Nyssa, you're an angle, I'm a demon, you can't love me. You pure and light and joy, I am death and decay and darkness. I won't ask you to join me in that."

"First, you're not asking, I'm telling. Second, I'm not pure, not by a long shot. Third, even if I was pure, I can't help but want to be in the dark." Nyssa then walked over to him and took his hand. "And, four, you swore an oath to obey me above all but my father, so. I, Nyssa Al Ghul, hier of the Deamon, order you to kiss me."

"I don't think you father would approve of that order."

"Well, good thing then that you're not allowed to be reinterpreting orders then." Nyssa said smiling, before giving him a long kiss.

When the kiss finally broke, Nyssa was still smiling. "You taste like chocolate."

That one surprised him. "Really, not rotted meat?"

"Not rotted meat, but, just to be sure." She kissed him again, longer this time. "Yes, I'm sure it's chocolate." She then kissed him again. "Oh and, I doubt that girl was worthy of you."

"Trust me, she was, and much more."

"Hmm." She then kissed him, again. "I love you Al Sah-Him."

"Say my name." He said, confusing her slightly. "Say my real name, please, it's been so long since I heard it last."

"I love you, Oliver Queen."

Over the next month, Oliver and Nyssa didn't go back to Nanda Parbat, instead they traveled, a lot.

They would spend a week in a five star hotel, Nyssa being the one to check in and out to avoid any awkwardness. Oliver would spend hours with her, just being together. Nyssa loved listening to the song, Oliver had told her that it was a favorite from his childhood. And at night they would go and dance on the roof tops.

When they were not together, he was killing H.I.V.E. agents.

The morning after saving Nyssa, Oliver got an air gaped laptop and the code to decode the data, again from his mysterious benefactor. It was a jackpot, every hive base location was on the flash drive along with information like numbers, supplies, status updates, anything and everything you wanted to know but never asked.

In order to avoid suspicion and to keep Nyssa safe, Oliver would have them go somewhere that was at least five times zones away from the locations he was hitting. He was enjoying messing with Darhk's head. He would hit one area, then 24 hours later hit some place half way round the world, then hit someplace random a few hours later, then hit a few someplace else, then stop for a few days, or not.

He was trying to be as random as possible, he knew eventually Darhk would cut his losses and go to ground, but that would take time, so for now Oliver was trying to maxims the damage he could do by hitting the bases slowly, as if he was spending time recovering and on flights or other forms of transportation.

The best part was the hours he spent with Nyssa after a round of attacks. He had found the night after saving her that the stage he was in when he saved her, with intact eyes and ears and so forth was his medium form, what he got if he neither expended nor gained a large amount of energy. However, if he absorbed enough energy from his victims that he could heal himself to a nearly fully alive form. It was not enough for him to be able to taste or feel warmth or cold, but it did have other, very pleasurable, advantages.

When Oliver got to this base, he could tell that something about it was different from normal. He looked around, using what he called his pain vision, something he would never admit to anyone as it sounded way too much like something from a comic book he would read as a kid.

After a minuet, he found that someone had beaten him here. He saw a group of about six all huddled in a corner, two of whom were clearly injured. While the other four were returning fire from what he assumed were twelve H.I.V.E. agents.

Well, he could not just let them die.

Well, he could, but he would rather let an enemy of H.I.V.E. live.

"Lyla." Derik said, ducking another bullet. "I'm out."

"Really." Lyla said popping up to shoot twice before she heard a click and dived back down. "Me to." She then looked back at Rebekah and Mark, the two wounded A.R.G.U.S. agents and Ashley who was tending to them. "Anyone got another clip?"

"No." they all said, having already sacrificed their ammo to the cause of staying alive.

Then Jack ducked back down after firing once. "Well, start praying then, I got three shots left." He then popped back up and shot three times, before diving down to take cover again with the others.

"Look out!" One of the people shooting at them yelled.

Suddenly the shooting at them stopped, and after a moment, Lyla peeked her head out to see several enemy agents on the ground, dead, with arrows sticking out of them, with more dropping by the second.

Suddenly a man ran out of the hallway, with an honest to God sword in his hand, and moving faster then she had ever seen, he sliced and diced the last three men with guns before they could even aim.

He then sheathed his sword and walking over to the dead bodies, picked up the guns and then walked over to her and her agents. "Need help?" He asked, his voice was deep and gravelly, with a hint of chain smoker. He then handed them the guns.

Lyla stood up, took the guns, and decided to not look a gift horse in the mouth. "We'll need a moment, they got shot."

The man did not respond, he just walked over and picked up the two agents and put one over each shoulder. "Where to?"

Lyla had to take a moment. Picking up Rebekah was not a surprise, she was only 125lbs and about 5ft. Mark however was 6ft 7ins and 265lbs of mussel "This way to extraction point." She said. Taking the gun she had been given, trading out the magazines for new ones, the rest of her agents doing the same. They then moved slowly through the halls, Lyla and Jack in front, David and Derik in back, with the man in the middle.

"Five o'clock." The Man said as they exited the hall.

Lyla, without even thinking, pointed her gun at the potion mentioned and a moment later three bogies came around out of another hall, she shot them on instinct before they had even aimed.

More were coming, Lyla knew, but she was not sure how to get out.

While she and her agents were pointing their guns down different hallways, the Man walked to the left and kicked a door in, revealing some stairs. "This way." He said. "Go up."

The agents went through the door, Lyla being the last one. "Wait." He said to her. "Black box, waist, third to the left. Put it on the door."

Lyla looked down and saw what he was talking about, and attached it to the door. They then went up the stairs. "Electromagnet, with a little boom just in case." He said for an explanation.

When they finally got to a landing at the top of the stairs, the Man placed Mark and Rebekah down. "Wait here." He said.

Then, diving through the door into a roll along the floor, he was met with four men who opened fire, only for them to all be cut off at the knees.

The door shut behind him, and all anyone heard were shooting and yelling, but it was quickly getting quieter.

About three minutes later the gunfire stopped, then the Man opened the door, and picked the agents back up. "Let's go." He said, walking out onto the roof.

Lyla and the rest of her group were shocked to see at least 30 men dead on the roof. "Call your helicopter." He said, having sensed it circling earlier.

"How do you know about that?" Jack asked, tightening the grip on his gun.

"Does it matter?" The Man asked, going and attaching another box to the door, hopefully sealing the roof. Jack's response was to point the gun at him. The Man didn't even turn to face him. "You are currently 30 stories up, on a roof with only one exit that I have just sealed and an army beyond it, you have to men down, and even with superior numbers and ammo, I have managed to kill over 200 men tonight while keeping you alive." He then turned. "Taking all of the into consideration…"

He then lunged, weaving back and forth, covered the 15 feet between Jack and him in a blink, and before anyone could process what had happened, Jack was on the ground, disarmed, and the Man casually held a sword. "Do you really think threatening me is the best move?" He then sheathed his sword and gave Jack back his gun. He then looked at Lyla. "Call the chopper."

"Lyla did as instructed, and lees then a minuet latter they were all in the air and leaving. "Turn about, do a fly by the west side, then the south, and last the east." The Man said.

Lyla instructed the piolet to do as instructed. And as they flew, the Man fired a lot of arrows into the side of the building, more on the south side that was facing a small park. "Don't worry, no one is in the park right now." He said.

"What?" Lyla asked.

The only response he gave was to push a button on his bow, there was a few beeps before a massive explosion that cause the building to start to collapse, toward the park. The whole group just looked at him in shock. "I would have just collapsed the building down on top itself, but then I had to save you." He said, he then looked out and saw that they were over the ocean. "Have a nice night."

And then he jumped, falling nearly a half-mile down into the open ocean below.

"What in the flipping hell!" Derik yelled. "Did you see that?"

"Something tells me we are in for a long debriefing." Said Ashley.

"Honey, I'm home." Oliver said, coming into their newest apartment. Nyssa came out and greeted him with a kiss. "How was your day?"

Nyssa paused to consider. "Interesting." She said with a smile.

"Oh, tell me more."

"Well, how was your day?"

"I save an A.R.G.U.S. team who had tried to storm the same H.I.V.E. base as I did, blew up the building with C$ arrows, then jumped out of their helicopter into the ocean a mile below. Destroyed an oil tanker smuggling missiles for H.I.V.E. Then I went and got you something."

"What?" Nyssa asked, but then there was a knock at the door that she went and answered.

"Delivery for a Miss, Tea Ammo." A flower deliveryman said.

Nyssa couldn't hide the smile on her face. "Yes."

"Ah, sign here please." He said, giving her a clipboard and a pen. Nyssa signed and gave it back to him, he then gave her a basket she needed both arms to carry that almost didn't fit through the door, with a lot of roses and a card. "Have a lovely evening." He turned to leave. "Oh, and congrats."

Nyssa was slightly confused by the remark, but said thank you and closed the door. She then walked back into the main room. "Miss Tea Ammo." She said, looking at the name on the card. "That wouldn't happen to be a play on words for Te Amo, would it?"

"Maybe." Oliver said, and even though she couldn't see it, Nyssa defiantly heard the smirk.

"How many roses did you buy." She asked.

"Ah, you were going to tell me about your day." He reminded her.

"Of course." She said, before handing him a glass. "Grape juice?"

"You stalling." He said, but took the glass anyway and drank a little.

Odd, even with his lack of taste, something was off, this wine was lacking something. "Your day my dear?"

"Well, I went out shopping, found a lovely dress that I will have to try on for your latter, though, the middle was a little snug."

"Really." Oliver said, taking another sip, still wrong. "Am I feeding you too much?"

"No dear, though I will blame you anyway." Nyssa said with a smile. "I then had lunch at a lovely restaurant, I actually through up a little."

Oliver was instantly alert. "You're sick?"

"No, I don't think so, just a little morning sickness." Nyssa said, and Oliver could have sworn he saw her chuckle a little.

"Well, as long as it's nothing serious."

"Oh, I never said that." Nyssa said.

Now Oliver was really confused. "Nyssa, I can't help but feel that I'm missing something." He said, taking another drink. "And why does this wine seem wrong, even to me?"

"It's not wine my love; it is just grape juice." Nyssa said.

"Well, why would you…"

Oliver would latter claim that he knew instantly what was going on, and that he handled it with maturity and grace. A comment that would always cause Nyssa to roll her eyes or snicker whenever she heard him say that.

What actually happened is Oliver shot up from the chair he was in, put his glass on the table, and walked out to the balcony like the room was on fire.

Nyssa was shocked by the reaction to say the least.

A moment latter Oliver walked back in. "Your…"

"Yes."

He then stormed back out.

Than back in. "Are you sure."

"Yes." Nyssa said. And then he walked outside again.

Nyssa was really starting to get annoyed.

"Look at the roses." Oliver said, ducking his head back in before closing the door and passing up and down the balcony.

Nyssa, exasperated to say the least by how he was acting, sat down, defiantly not in a humph, and opened the card, which turned out to just be a pamphlet.

 **The Meaning of Flowers**

It is important for some people to know the symbolic meaning of flowers for a number of reasons. For one, there are individuals who are few or not good with words that every time they want to express their feelings, the words they've practiced a thousand times just don't come out. In order for them to express how they feel without the need to talk, flowers can be an effective medium in addition to a romantic note.

Also, there are people who are fond of sending flowers. If you are one of those people, it is essential you know what flower to send and with what meaning you are trying to convey. You may have though that giving flowers is simple, think again. Contrary to what the majority believe, each class of flowers express different symbolic meaning. The symbolic meaning of flowers in terms of love and stuff, you can refer to the following flowers and their meanings.

 **Rose Color Meanings**

 **Red** – Love, beauty, courage, respect, and passion. Or simply "I love you".

 **Pale Peach** – Modesty.

 **Peach** – Appreciation, gratitude. A symbol of trust to be given or asked for. "Believe me".

 **Yellow** – Joy, happiness, true friendship, caring. Welcome back.

 **White** – Purity, innocence, youthfulness, sympathy.

 **White and Red** – Unity.

 **Orange** – Desire, enthusiasm, creativity, fascination, pride. "I want you".

 **Burgundy** – Unconditional and unending love, unconscious beauty, beauty from with-in.

 **Pale Pink** – Admiration, elegance, sympathy, sweetness.

 **Pink or Deep Pink** – Perfect happiness, grace, appreciation, gratitude. "Thank you" "You are my Joy"

 **Lavender** – Love at first sight.

 **Blue** – The unobtainable, something impossible.

 **Coral** – Desire.

 **Yellow with red tips** – Falling in love.

 **Black Rose**

Black roses are for the elusive. The message is that of strength, courage, and new beginnings. With these traits the black rose fades into the night.

 **The Roses by Numbers**

1\. A single rose of any color depicts utmost devotion, Love at first sight  
2\. Two roses entwined together communicate "Marry me"  
3\. Three red roses stand for the 3 words "I Love You"  
5\. Five red roses stand for the 5 words "I love you very much"  
6\. Six Roses signify a need to be loved or cherished  
7\. Seven roses mean "I´m infatuated with you"  
9\. Nine roses mean "Together as long as we live"  
10\. Ten roses mean "You are pretty"  
11\. Eleven roses assure the recipient they are truly and deeply loved  
12\. Twelve roses mean "Be my Steady"  
13\. Thirteen roses indicate a secret admirer or "Forever Friends"  
15\. Fifteen roses mean "I´m really sorry"  
21\. Twenty one roses mean "I´m committed to you"  
24\. Twenty four roses mean "You're always on my mind". Stands for the twenty-four hours of the day, and say that the loved one is thought of during every hour of the day.  
36\. Thirty six roses means "I'll remember our romantic moments"  
40\. Forty Roses means "My Love is Genuine"  
50\. Fifty roses signify that a love has ripened well, and has never been regretted  
99\. Ninety nine roses mean "I´ll love you till the day I die"  
100\. One hundred roses mean "I'm totally devoted to you." Signify a happy union of two loving souls till death or till a hundred years.  
101\. One hundred and one roses means "You´re my one and only one"  
108\. One hundred and eight roses ask "Will you marry me?"  
365\. Three hundred and sixty five roses means "I love you every single day." Speak of a love that has remained constant and true throughout the year

 **Types of Flowers meanings**

White Carnation – Pure and Ardent Love  
Red Carnation – My Heart Aches for You  
Red Chrysanthemum – I love You  
Forget-Me-Not – True Love  
Lilac – First True Love  
Primrose – Young Love  
Red Tulip- Perfect Love  
Aster – Love, Daintiness, and Patience  
Daisy – Innocence, Loyal Love, I-ll Never Tell  
Hyacinth – Forgive Me or I-m Sorry  
White Jasmine – Friendliness

Zinnia – Thoughts of Far-Away Friends  
Bird of Paradise – Joyfulness  
Chrysanthemum – You-re a Wonderful Friend.

' _Odd?'_ Nyssa thought. _'Why would he give her something like that?'_ But then Nyssa looked at the basket and noticed the different colors of the roses, so she started to count them out. There was one blue rose, two red ones entertained together, nine red and white ones tied together, ten lavender roses, 21 peach roses, 24 orange ones, 40 white roses, 50 pink, and after a lot of counting, 101 yellow and 108 burgundy roses.

Trying to decode the message took time, but eventually Nyssa understood perfectly.

She was so distracted, she didn't hear Oliver come back in, or even notice him until he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her. "I have a confession to make." Oliver said, turning her to face him. "You know I was with a woman named Laurel off and on for years."

"Yes."

"And during that time, I cheated on her, a lot."

"Yes, and I know you've changed."

"Yes, but…" Oliver had to take a steadying breath. "About a month or so before I left on the Gambit with her sister, I went to a bar and met a girl, and I got her pregnant."

"What?"

"I got her pregnant, and I was so scared, I was angry, and sad, and a lot of other emotions I didn't understand… but then…" He started to shake as if he was crying.

"You have a child?" Nyssa asked, wanting to feel angry, but all she felt was pity, for the man who had lost his son, and the son that thought his father was dead.

"No, I don't." This really caught Nyssa's attention. "She miscarried." He then leaned forward and Nyssa, taking the hint, reached forward and held him. "When I got the news, I was gutted. Nothing on the island, nothing that has happened since, not even my death, can compare to how, destroyed I felt, my soul was ripped out and I do not know if I ever got if back."

Anyone who had ever called Nyssa heartless would have feinted to see her now. She had only known about her child for a little while, but she already could not picture a world without them in it. To try to picture what this good man had felt, she would not even wish it on Damien Darhk. "How can I love my children, when I killed their sibling?"

That shook Nyssa to her core. "You did no such thing." She said, more angry then she had ever been in her life, not with him exactly, but with the idea that he could think that.

"I might as well have. The whole time I knew about the pregnancy, I wanted it to go away. 'It', I thought of my son or daughter as nothing more than a thing, hoping they would be cast aside to be forgotten so I could still go out and have 'fun'. I, oh God, I wanted my child to die, and then it happened. How can I not be a monster? How can I be the father to this child, knowing that?"

"You will be a great father." Nyssa said, putting every ounce of determination into her words that she could. "You were young and scared, you reacted like a scared person, it's not your fault that they died, and wishing didn't make it so." Nyssa said, forcing him to look at her. "You have grown so much since then."

"It was barley three years ago."

"And you have grown more in those three years then others do in 30, then some will in 90. You will be a great father to this child, and anymore that come after." She then pulled him into a hug. "If for no other reason then I will kill you if you aren't, husband."

Oliver sucked in a breath and squeezed her. "So, you accept?"

"Yes, my love, I will marry you."

"Why are you so nervous?"

"I've never asked a father for his daughter's hand in marriage, and they never had an army backing them up. The closest I ever came was a phone call to Mr. Lance who owns a gun when I told him that there was only one bed in a room me and Laurel were sharing."

Oliver and Nyssa walked hand in hand to the throne room of Nanda Parbat. After almost two months and Oliver having killed nearly 2 million of H.I.V.E.'s operatives and destroying over 2,000 bases, Damien Darhk must have finally decided to cut his losses and go to ground. That had been nearly two weeks ago, and after a week of nothing but relaxing in each other's company they had decided to return to Nanda Parbat so that Oliver could ask Ra's al Ghul for Nyssa's hand, and to tell him he would be a grandfather.

Oliver was starting to wonder if he should have just taken Amanda "The Wall" Waller up on her job offer instead. Two weeks after saving Lyla and her team, He had ran into the Wall herself and had assisted in handling a, delicate matter, and had been invited to have a friendly chat with the woman.

" _This is the Unmentioned Arcive. If the President wants access, he would be brought here in a black bag over his head, and three different drivers in each car to compartmentalize the trip, and even he can't see what's past the first floor. It can only be accessed when four codes are entered, generated by key fobs implanted in four off site holders that change every 30 seconds who have all never met. Once you come to work here, you never leave." Amanda said as she was giving him a, 'tour', of the area. "The files kept in here go beyond top secret. This is where we keep information on the things that can't be known of understood. You want proof of every X-File conspiracy nut's mad ravings; you'll find it here, along with things so out there that even they aren't mad enough to believe it."_

" _Do you have Aliens here?" Oliver asked._

" _Three floors down." Amanda said._

" _Well, While this is all very interesting, why did you invite me here."_

" _Because, Sir, I want to offer you a job."_

" _Offer." Oliver asked, skeptical._

" _It is an offer, I very much doubt you're the type of man who could be forced."_

" _Keep trusting that feeling, you will go far."_

" _Thank you. You see Sir, up until now, everything in this facility have had # constant, it's impossible for us with our current understanding of science and reality in general, and any living specimens are dead, hostile, we can't understand them, too powerful to contain, as dumb or dumber then we are, or some combination thereof."_

" _What do you normally do to aliens?"_

" _Ever since an attack in the 60's our policy regarding extraterrestrial has been to send them packing, as nicely or with as much force as necessary to discourage wars and things"_

" _That is nice of you."_

" _Yes, well. You are the first of your kind, intelligent, non-hostile, reasonable, and powerful enough to handle that enchantress. In addition, your past actions make me feel very confident in you not being a threat. With your help, we could begin to understand what the heck some of these things are."_

" _Past actions?"_

 _Waller opened a door for him and turned on the lights. "We been tracing your movements for months, ever since the Danial's Building, all we knew was that you were trying to send a message to someone. And given we found a torture chamber, we figured who ever runs the operations must have taken someone from you and you decided to retaliate. Who they are, who you are, your method of transport, or even how you know where they are, all remained a mystery up until we got a tip that some shady business was happening in the building that you saved my team in." She then pulled out a file. "For security purposes, everything is hard copied."_

 _Oliver started looking at the file, and then he took out a pen and started writing. After a minuet, he closed the file, and thinking for a moment, he wrote something on the front. "This should fill in some of the blanks, and this is some information you might find useful." He then gave her a flash drive._

" _Thank you... Mr. Black." She said, reading the name on the file._

" _I thought it conveyed the proper amount of mysterious theatricality."_

" _It suits you." Amanda said. "I would like you to work here, use whatever knowledge and abilities you have to clarify and contain what is here."_

 _Oliver thought for a moment. "No, sorry. I am flattered, but I have previous agreements that must be honored. I would however, be happy to look things over every now and then, be a consultant or something."_

" _Very well." Amanda said. "How can I contact you?"_

 _Oliver thought for a moment, and then he closed his eyes and clenched his fist. A moment later, his hand opened, and Amanda took a small pinkish purple crystal skull. "Hold it, and speak, and I will know." Oliver said, then he turned around to walk out of the room. "How did you get the tip?"_

" _It was a note." Amanda said. "It gave us a time and location that checked out."_

" _Did it say anything else?"_

" _Yes, it said, 'Me again'." Amanda said. "Is that important?"_

" _Maybe."_

"Well, good luck." Nyssa said, couple having reached the doors to the Throne room. They then both walked in quietly and bowed.

"Al Sah-Him, my daughter, you have returned." Ra's said. "Did you get lost, maybe forget to ask for directions?"

"No father."

"Really, strange, because I could have sworn you were rescued two months ago, so why are you only appearing before me now."

"There was a leak my Lord; someone had to have told H.I.V.E. where your daughter was. I could not find the leak, so I burned them instead."

To anyone else, Ra's would have looked completely impassive, but Nyssa could see the smile in his eyes. "Report."

"2, 386,792 H.I.V.E. agents are dead my Lord, and 2,295 of their bases are destroyed." Oliver said, the shock the statement made going around the room full of the League's higher ups, even Ra's' mask slipped for a moment to show surprise. "This has force the enemy to go to ground, removing the threat to Nyssa. I surrender myself to any punishment you deem fit for not returning immediately, and for leaving without permission, but I felt it was the best way to protect Nyssa and I stand by the decision."

"Is there anything else?" Ra's asked.

"Nothing but what I wish to say in private." Oliver said.

"Very well." Ra's said, addressing the room. "Al Sah-Him, you have done well, and because you have shown that you loyalty to my daughter is beyond reproach, I see no reason to punish you." Ra's then looked at Oliver. "Just don't let it happen again."

"Yes my Lord." "Yes Father" Oliver and Nyssa said.

Ra's then motioned for them to follow him into his private chamber. "Now, what did you want to tell me that others could not hear?" He asked.

Oliver had thought about how to say this, a lot, but eventually decided that ripping the band aid off would be the best way to do it. "YourdaughterispregnantwithmychildandIwanttomarryherPleasedon'tkillmeanymorethenIalreadyammyLordIloveherIwanttospendtherestofmylifelovingherandIdidsaveherIwantverymuchwishtodorightbyherandyou."

Maybe he ripped a little to fast.

"What?" Ra's asked

"Your daughter is pregnant with my child and I want to marry her. Please don't kill me anymore then I already am my Lord. I love her, I want to spend the rest of my life loving her, and I did save her. I want very much wish to do right by her and you."

Oliver then just stood there; waiting for Ra's to answer. "When is the wedding?" He asked.

Four years later

Oliver, having just freed Marcav from her prison, had returned to his home. "Father." A voice yelled.

Oliver braced himself for impact, then a beautiful three year old girl, with long black hair just like her mother, but with the silver eyes of her father. "I missed you."

"Well, I missed you to my love." Oliver said, kissing her on the forehead. "How is your brother?"

"He's sleeping."

"I didn't know babies did that." Oliver said. "I thought all they did was cry."

"Oh, I think an argument could be made." Nyssa said, walking up with the sleeping child on her hip, giving her husband a kiss on the lips. "Thea, go clean up your toys, your father needs some rest."

"Yes mother." She said bowing, she then went to her room.

"Did it work?" Nyssa asked.

"Yes. Marcav has risen; we are going to start looking for the others soon."

"I wish you didn't have to." Nyssa said.

"We need them, if I am ever to live again, if Robert or Thea are to ever have a future, we need all the Minocar to fight what is coming."

"Well then, perhaps this will help." Nyssa said, taking out a note from Oliver's, as he had dubbed it, "mysterious benefactor".

Oliver looked at the two words, a name he figured, confused, as per usual, but it was something, he was sure. "Well then, who is this?"

 **Barry Allen**.

 **Wow, that was long. I think I will be shortening the chapters from now on. So much has happened since I saw you last, presidential elections, holidays, and thank God we said see yah to 2016.**

 **Ah, 2016, not really a good year. It's more like it punched you in the face, kicked you while you were down, stole your girlfriend, burned your house down, killed off all your favorite actors, and then, just to finish off, shot your dog.**

 **2017 is looking up though, I'm personally looking forward to John Wick 2, how about you all?**

 **Thank you, so much, really, all of you, thank you. This is my most popular story by far, and I have been doing this for 3 ½ years. I have never done this well before, 17 (18 technically, I'll get to that latter) reviews, 54 favorites, 58 followers, 1,366 views. Wow.**

 **Yes, I am bragging, sue me.**

 **First off, I must give out some credit where it is very due. Heir Apparent by Stegro88 was my inspiration for the saving of Nyssa scene, if you haven't read it, check it out, it's a great story.**

 **Now, reviews. The first review I got was from Dante 101, he said that I shouldn't continue this story, but for some reason, I honestly don't know why or how, it doesn't show up on the website.**

 **Valkyrie – Thank you.**

 **Bellapom – Thank you, I'm glad you liked it.**

 **Guest (1) – Yes, I swear I look everywhere for good Slade-is-a-good-guy fic, and I can't find it anywhere, and it's usually slash, which I don't like, those two togeather as a couple is just weird. Thank you.**

 **Risinhero14 – Thank you, I hope the wait was worth it.**

 **Eva017 – Sorry it was not sooner, but thank you.**

 **JBarros27 – I am so glade you liked it.**

 **Aryan229 – Thank you.**

 **Gueast (2) – I hope you see the update.**

 **1234123456785678 – I hope this satisfies you want for more Nyssa x Oliver. I agree, and I wanted more of them together in the last chapter, but unfortunately, it did have to allow for a bit of exposition and seeing the others in the fic. And thank you, I hope the fights in this one were as good as the last**

 **Spawn99 – Thanks.**

 **Darkmoon111 – I agree on the lack of Nyssa x Oliver fic being sad, they would be great together, and they are actually married in cannon, which was one of the only good things to come out of season 3 as far as relationships were concerned.**

 **Cara R.Q – Thank you.**

 **PoshK1tty – Wow, this is hands down the best review I have ever gotten. I don't think anyone has ever begged me so creatively or interestingly for the next chapter and I loved it, thank you so much.**

 **Tpowe15 – Thank you.**

 **SeeBaking – Thank you.**

 **Yes, I will be continuing this fic, probably with shorter chapters. I am sorry it took so long to update, all I can say is that I hope it was worth the wait, I have schooling to do, and the house is being renovated so we had to all but move out and that was a lot of work.**

 **Thank you all for reading this, until next time. Let's hope Arrow doesn't crash and burn from idiots until then.**


	3. Chapter 3: The Flash

**Hi, quick authors rant. Darm Cannon to HELL.**

 **Black Siren, and episode 5x10 in general. Let me put it this way, imagine that the show creators are your parents, and we, the viewers, are their children. Moreover, the show is a family cook out, a critical part of any cookout is hamburgers on the grill, I'm sure we can all agree on that.**

 **Back in season 4, they told us that beef is just too expensive, so no hamburgers at the cook out anymore.**

 **Now, I being 90% carnivore would be very disappointed, any vegetarians/vegans reading this, just try and follow along.**

 **We, the children, are angry about this, and rightly so, we want our burgers back. Then, season 5 happens, and it's hinted things are looking up, then, episode 5x09, Burgers are back, yay.**

 **Just think Lord of the Rings, "Meat's back on the menu boys." That is how excited I was, for this and Slade, but more on that later.**

 **Then a week before the cookout, mom and dad come and tell us that, no, we're actually having chicken burgers instead, and it is disappointing, but it is not the end of the world.**

 **Then, the cookout happens, we run up to take a bite, and it is a tofu burger, and mom and dad say that "well if you just put enough ketchup and mustard and lettuce and tomato on it, it tastes just the same kids, don't worry about it."**

 **"But what happened to beef, what happened to chicken, hell, what happened to cheap hot dogs?"**

 **"They are too expensive."**

 **My convoluted point is what happened? We were told, hay, Flashpoint might give us Laurel back, and I was excited. Then, when I found out it was Black Siren, I was a little less excited but still excited. **

**Now, nothing. Felicity somehow punches her out, she's in that closet you put extras when they are not needed, and that's it.**

 **This is just like Slade for the 100th. I was REALLY looking forward to having Slade back for the 100th, after all, a big moment in the trailer was him drawing his sword. I have not watched any of the rest of season 5, I was, and still am, waiting to see if they screw up or not before committing myself to another season. **

**HOWEVER , I made and exception for the 100th, because it's the 100th, and BECAUSE I wanted to see Slade. I do not mean that guy we got in the costume who sounded nothing like Slade in the few grunts we got out of him in that lackluster villain line-up fight we got near then end of the episode. The one where all the villains who had several minute-long battle scenes each before were reduced down to a minute and a half for all of them to die after a sub-par performance with nothing of their great, well, anything that made them great villains, being shown at all. I mean Slade Bloody Freeken Wilson, one-liners, smirking, taunting, the best Villain/ Side Hero this show has ever had, that is who I wanted to see.**

 **They gave me a cardboard cut out Slade, and a diet vegan version of the promised return of Laurel, I am less than satisfied.**

 **And those stupid ghosts right before Oliver stepped through the portal to leave. I mean, come on, you had, at least 4/6th, of the actors there, record some new dialogue or something. That just seemed so cheap using the old dialogue and frozen holograms.**

* * *

"Hey, Barry. It's Iris. I don't know if you can hear me, but I hope you can, because I really, really need you to wake up." She said before flashing the boy a sad smile. "Like, the other day, Detective Pretty Boy came into Jitters, and he asked me out, and I actually said yes." She then gave a laugh that sounded more like a gasp. "See, I do dumb things like that when you're not around."

And then the tears started. "And the house is really quiet without you. I know that the reason that you came to live with us was awful. But Barry, you made it a home again. You made us a family again. We need you. I need you." She then reached down to take his hand but stopped when she felt a spark. Iris looked up at him, hoping against hope that this was the moment he would wake up.

* * *

 _"She is breathtaking."_

 _"What?" Barry asked._

 _"Your friend, she is stunning." A man in a black trench coat with a black Fedora said. Barry had been sitting on a park bench, waiting for Iris to come back with some ice cream from a vender across the park. "Black hair, brown skin, lovely brown eyes, jeans, red shirt, black jacket with flowers on it."_

 _"You can see her; I've kind of lost track of where she went." Barry said, looking around_

 _"She's right over there, see." The man said, pointing, and Barry saw Iris. "Maybe, you should run to her, go see if she needs you, Barry."_

 _And so Barry went to her, not realizing that the man had said his name._

* * *

Iris was standing up to go; her shift would start in an hour, so she had to get ready. But she didn't want to let go of his hand.

"IRIS!" Barry yelled, grabbing onto her hand, and then trying to cough up a lung.

"Barry!" Iris yelled as well. "Oh, God, someone get in here!"

"Iris, Iris." Barry kept saying, getting her attention while he looked around, based and confused.

"Yes, Barry?"

"Don't go on the date."

If Iris had had a list of the top 1,000,000,000 things Barry Allen might say after waking up dramatically from a 7-month coma, she was sure of two things. One; that it would probably be some sciencey thing she wouldn't understand, and two; what he had said would not be on the list.

"Why?"

"Because I love you."

And then Barry closed his eyes again.

"No, Barry…"

* * *

 _"What the hell?" Barry said, stumbling into, a gym. "Where the hell am I?"_

 _"Are we talking physically or metaphysically?"_

 _Barry spun around to see the man in the trench coat. "What is going on?"_

 _"Well, physically, you are at what remains of S.T.A.R. labs after the particle accelerator blew sky high. Metaphysically you are in the gym of you second-grade science fair."_

 _"This is insane."_

 _"I had a feeling you would say that, but is it more insane than this?" The man then waved his hand, and suddenly booths appeared all around Barry, with kids and parents all moving around, seeing what other kids had made._

 _"Don't worry about it slugger."_

 _Barry turned around to see his dad, and his mom, giving an eight-year-old version of him a pep talk._

 _"But I didn't win." Younger Barry said._

 _"Doesn't mean you didn't do the best project. It just means judges don't like it when the lava coming out of your volcano causes a fire and burns the other two projects next to yours down."_

 _"Yeah." Barry's mom says, giving him a hug. "What was in that lava, anyway?"_

 _Barry was about to say, but then he saw his father pointing to a furious looking Gertrude Sanders who was holding the remains of a burnt potato clock and looking like she wanted to see if she could make Barry into a replacement. "I have been advised by my legal counsel not to disclose my propreeataity, pree, pri…"_

 _"Proprietary." His dad said._

 _"Yeah, that, formula."_

 _"Oh, well then." His mom said, standing up and taking his hand. "And who helped him make this proprietary formula?" She said staring at her husband._

 _"I'm afraid I can neither confirm nor deny any accusations you might have, senator." He said smiling._

 _"Oh, playing like that are we, ok." She then put her other arm around her husband as the family headed for the door. "I'll just have to wriggle it out of him over ice cream."_

 _"Oh, you do not play fair."_

 _"Nope." She said, popping the p._

 _"A happy memory I hope." The man said._

 _"The best." Barry said, turning back to look at him. "Okay, I'm in a coma, so who the hell are you. Some piece of my subconscious or something?"_

 _"No, I'm real, in the sense that I am an entirely separate entity from you, and I'm here to help you."_

 _"Why?"_

 _"For the last four years, I have been getting these notes from an unnamed third party, and so far they have always had two constants. They are never wrong, and I am never sorry for having listened to them and followed their advice. Now, the last one I was given a few months ago, exactly one week before the particle accelerator exploded."_

 _"The day I came to Starling City."_

 _"To chase down the impossible, or in this case, several masked men seen abducting several high profile persons, all of whom possessed superior speed and strength. You interviewed them."_

 _"I remember."_

* * *

"Thank you for your time Mrs. Queen." Barry said.

"Please Mr. Allen, it's a pleasure, apparently being abducted is good for the poles these days, you can get elected mayor on tragedy alone." Moira said.

"Thank you, and it's Barry. I took a look around, and this case of your abduction bears some strange similarities to the theft of the biotransfuser and other events that happened that day."

"Well, the police did find the biotransfuser near where we were being kept. I suppose the people that took my family and friends might have stolen that as well."

"Yeah, but here's the thing." Barry then took out some pictures. "The day of the biotransfuser theft, a man came into the 11th precinct and started shooting it up, and a man in a clown uniform attacked a mall. Eyewitnesses reported lots of shots fired at the assailants, but they were unfazed."

"I heard that on the news." Moira said.

"Right, but what you probably didn't hear about were these." Barry showed her some pictures. "These are indents into the concrete floor of the 11th and the mall, these are indents going to and from the biotransfuser theft. What do you see?"

Moira put on her glasses. "Well, I only notice one set going to or from the biotransfuser, and I think one set is deeper."

"Exactly. Now here are some pictures of the floor and the walls of a room near the one you were held in." Barry then showed her some more pictures. She saw many large indents and oddly human shaped cracks in the walls.

Moira, with years of practice, managed to keep the look of surprise off her face. The fact that Mr. Allen had managed to find the room they were actually kept in, the one where that horrible fight took place, was very unfortunate. "What are you saying?"

"I have a theory, but I don't think it will be popular, but I wanted you to know it, and see if you can help me, completely off the record."

"Why off the record?" Moira asked, hopeful.

"My theory probably won't go over well with anyone else, I'm kind of the Mulder of our precinct." Barry said to Moira's blank expression. "Mulder, Scully, X-Files."

"Oh, okay, what is your idea."

"What if, whoever did this was really strong? I'm not talking bodybuilder, I mean chemically enhanced to the nth degree." He said. "I know, sounds crazy, but it fits everything we know. It explains, how, one man could carry a 5,000-pound piece of machinery, how…" He pulled out another picture for Moira. "How a man could rip said piece of technology right off the industrial screws holding it to the ground, stripping the threads. And, if they had partners, it would also explain the attacks, and why the footprints were left behind, if their mussels were dense enough, they could theoretically make a person bullet proof. I think whoever stole the biotransfuser wanted to use it to make more people like them and kidnapped you for, I don't know, leverage, maybe ransom to fund their plans."

Moira just looked at him, not able to believe that someone would actually jump to those conclusions, and how close to right they were.

Barry just thought she didn't believe him from the look he was getting. "You think I'm nuts." Barry said, leaning back in his chair, dejected. "I'm sorry for wasting your time."

"No, Mr. Allen, it's not that, I'm just, shocked is all. I've known a fair number of police in my day, I don't think I've ever met one who would say such theories, even on a bet." Then something clicked in Moira's brain. "Allen, any relation to Dr. Henry Allen?"

Barry looks down at the floor. "My father."

"I'm sorry, I lost my husband and son some years ago, and I can't imagine what that must have been like, to have your father murder…"

"He did not kill my mother!" Barry yelled, the sudden outburst startling Moira.

"Moira, is there a problem here?" Walter asked, walking in with Diggle and Malcolm.

"No, no problem." Barry said quickly. "I'm sorry."

"No, I'm sorry; I should have known that somethings are better left unsaid." Moira said genuinely, reaching out a hand to comfort the boy.

Barry seemed to be weighing his options, then he came to a decision. "The night of my mom's murder." Barry began, instantly grabbing everyone else's attention. "A noise woke me up, I came downstairs, and I saw my mom, surrounded by a tornado of lightning. And in the lightning, I saw a man."

Despite how impossible it sounded, no one was going to interrupt, either because of the tears in the boy's eyes or because of their own recent brush with the impossible. "My mom screamed, told me not to come closer, my dad came in and told me to run. And suddenly I'm twenty blocks from our house, in my pajamas." Barry had to clear his throat. "It took me hours to get home, and when I did, I saw them lead my dad away, telling everyone he was innocent and telling me not to go in the house, but I went in, and I saw her, lying there."

Barry had to take a moment to wipe away tears and clear his throat, and for the first time since starting his tale, he looked at Moira. "No one, the cops, the shrinks, no one would believe me. Of course, no one could explain how a kid ended up miles away either. They arrested my dad, and he's been in prison for 10 years for a murder he didn't commit."

"Mr. Allen, while I can appreciate your position, proving a man is using super steroids won't confirm your lightning man exists." Malcolm said.

"You're Malcolm Merlin, right?"

"Yes."

"Have you spent almost half your life being told what you saw was a lie, that your father is a monster who killed your mom, that you are crazy. Every day of my career, I've been told that I'm just chasing flying pigs, tall tales, and ghost stories. But if I can prove the 'impossible,' just once, I can prove, at least to myself that I'm not crazy. And then maybe I can find out what actually happened that night, and free my dad."

Moira was rather touched by the boy's story. She felt for him, losing the most important people in your life was not easy.

But, Barry still had a chance with his loved one, how could she deny him some hope. "I woke up." She said, grabbing everyone's attention. "I woke up for a few moments before they put bags over our heads. I was very out of it at the time, I thought it was just the drugs playing tricks, but I could have sworn one of the men was carrying the biotransfuser, without any help."

"You think I might be right."

"I believe that there are things that can't be explained, Mr. Allen. And that when people are confronted by the unexplainable, most will just prefer it did not exist. Now maybe your right and someone created a Superman serum; when I was a child, we thought cell phones the size of your hand that could make worldwide calls were the things of Star-Trek, now we have smartphones that can do a million times more." Moira then leaned over and gave Barry a reassuring pat on the knee. "I don't know if your theory is right or wrong, and I'm not sure if your lightning man exists. What I do know is that your theory is better than any other half-baked theory I've been given so far and that there are very few truly impossible things in this world. So, if you say a lightning man who killed your mom, or a Superman kidnapped my family, I say it's not the worst theory I've heard to fit events."

* * *

 _"You're fascinating, Mr. Allen." The man said. "A man who chases the impossible yet is so grounded in reason, it's a wonder you don't explode at such an unusual contradiction."_

 _"Contradiction?" Barry asked._

 _"Jesus walked on water, turned it into wine, healed the sick, and made the blind men see."_

 _"Now that is all just stories, that's not real." Barry said._

 _"I want you to remember that. I think you might change your tune, very soon. But, on to business. You are in a coma, and I have the power to help get you out of it." The man said. "However, there are some limitations, and I have a condition."_

 _"What are they?" Barry asked._

 _"The limitations are this; your body is currently undergoing a metamorphosis of sorts."_

 _"A what!?"_

 _"Nothing to worry about, but I can't just wake you now, not completely, but I can move you closer to the surface of your mind, and I will assist in speeding up the process."_

 _"I'm sorry, how is going through a metamorphosis nothing to worry about."_

 _"The changes you will experience will not be harmfull, but you will need help understanding them, I can help you do that." The man said. "Besides, all thing considered, this change for you will be easier than many others who go through similar processes."_

 _"Yeah, sorry, again, you're not making any sense, like, any."_

 _"Long story short. I can help wake you up sooner than you would, but you will be asleep a while longer. Also, my condition is that I am allowed to assist you in training, in secret until a time of my choosing to be revealed to others."_

 _"Training?"_

 _The man didn't answer, he just said. "Do we have an accord, Mr. Allen?"_

 _Barry wasn't sure, of anything, and who the hell was this guy anyway. But, if it meant getting out of this coma sooner, why not. "Sure."_

* * *

7 months earlier.

* * *

"I've got a plane to catch." Clyde Mardon yells as he shoots at the detectives chasing him, managing to get one of them in the neck.

"Fred." Joe West shouts, instantly forgetting about the fleeing suspects and drops to his partner's aid.

Not that it's doing any good.

"Hold on buddy." Joe then grabs his radio. "I have an officer down! I repeat: an officer down!" He yells into the, at the moment, offensive object. But gets only static in return.

Joe then hears a giant explosion, looks up, and what he sees, words just fail completely to describe what he was seeing. But he also saw, with some satisfaction, the plane the Mardon brothers were escaping on explode into a million pieces.

"Detective."

Joe looks up to see a man in black with a sword on his hip standing in front of him.

And Joe did what probably anyone would do in this situation, he drew his gun, making sure to still try and keep the pressure on Chyre's wound, even though he knows it's no good. "Stay back."

The man did as Joe asked, taking a step back. "I can save him, but only if you let me."

"I said stay back."

"Joe." The man said. "He is dying, he is already beyond the help of anyone even if they could get here soon enough. If he dies, then he will also be beyond mine. Let me save him."

Joe was taken aback, how did he know Joe's name. But as he looked down at his friend, and realized that he couldn't be too picky about guardian angels right now. "Save him." Joe said, taking a step back.

The man took his place next to the bleeding man instantly, carefully placing a hand over his wound.

And just as fast he stood again, and the wound had stopped bleeding. It still looked unpleasant sure, but it was no longer life threatening

Joe looked at his friend, at his neck, and then at the man. "Thank you." He said.

The man bowed. "You should head to the hospital. Others are injured, they will need your..." He suddenly stopped and looked in the direction of a sudden lightning flash. He then turned back to Joe. "I am so sorry."

But before Joe could ask, he was gone.

* * *

Present

* * *

The first thing Barry did after waking up, other than being very confused, taking a moment to admire his abs, and in awe of The Doctor Harrison Bloody Wells, was find Iris.

The first thing she did upon seeing him, was planting the mother of all kisses on him.

The term shell shocked would not do justice to how he looked after they finally had to come up for air. The look one might have if you saw a mushroom cloud on the horizon and realized you probably would be dead before you could say 'Oh Hell,' might be more appropriate.

"What?" Barry asked.

Iris looked at him, confused. "What, do you mean what?"

"Well, not that I mind or anything, but why did you kiss me."

"Because of a month ago, I told you I was going on a date, and your response was to tell me you loved me."

"Oh...that." Barry said.

And after a long pause, Iris hit him. "Is that all you have to say?"

"No, no, of course not. I'm just, I honestly thought that that was a dream or something, I didn't realize I actually did that."

"So you don't love me." Iris said, looking very hurt.

"What, no, of course, I love, you." She didn't look convinced. "I mean I've always loved you, massive, huge crush for like, ever. Honestly, I can not remember a time I didn't adore you."

Finally, Barry noticed 1: That he had just said those words, out load, and to Iris. And 2: That she was so very smug about it.

"You just played me."

"Yeah."

"Like a cheap second fiddle."

"It wasn't really even that hard. More like a cheap second hand forth fiddle."

"I hope you realize that revenge will be both swift and terrible." Barry said, but he was smiling.

"In your dreams Barry." Iris said, also smiling.

"Well, speaking of dreams, how about a date thissss... What day is it?"

"The 84th of treeborn." Iris said, drawing a confused look from Barry. "Oh yeah, while you were asleep, alien invaded and stole all the Bunsen burners, took over society, and changed the calendar."

Barry just laughed. "Really, Bunsen burners?"

"It was either that or scientific calculators," Iris said. "Oh, but Trump has started running an effective presidential campaign."

"OK, stop it, I know nothing, very, crazy happened while I was in the coma."

"What about me moving all your stuff out of your room to make it my shoe closet."

Barry stopped for a moment. "Ok, that I would believe." He then laughed.

"My dad is going to be so happy to see you."

* * *

"Yeah, that was one hell of a nap you took, baby face. And you still look twelve." An Officer said at Barry's impromptu welcome home gathering. Everyone laughs at the good-natured ribbing.

"You scared the hell out of us, kiddo," Joe says. He wants to say more, but then the dispatcher calls in.

" _Detective West, we got a 5.15 in progress at Gold City Bank. Two dead. Weather_ _'s bad on the south side, so grab your rain gear."_

"Back on the clock, I'm sorry, Barry. I've got to go."

"Do you need my help..."

"Not a chance Allen." Singh said. "You need to get back into the swing, slowly, no field work for a while."

" Exactly, you take it easy. Plenty for you to do once you settle in." Joe said, putting on his coat. "Let's go, boys!"

Barry turns around to see, not only the smiling face of Fred Chyre but also Eddie Thawne.

"Hey, Bar, great to see you up and around again." Fred said, smiling and giving Barry a pat on the arm, and a good view of the scar on his neck.

"Ouch, when did that happen?"

"Oh, a little going away present from Clyde Mardon."

"Oh." Then Barry realized the full implications. "OH! Oh, I am so sorry, if I hadn't..."

"No, no. Stop that right now. This is on Mardon, it was your job to find him, mine to arrest him. Getting shot at is part of the job. Besides, I got a commendation, some paid leave, and we get to babysit pretty boy here."

Eddie just laughed at what was, unfortunately, still his nickname "Good to see you back up and around again Allen, Iris. Come on Chyre, can't leave Joe waiting."

* * *

After getting witness statements, and some video footage of the perp leaving the scene, and more importantly, the partial license plate of the car. The detectives and Captain Singh met outside the precinct. "So, a freak storm while a bank is being robbed. That's the third one this month." David Singh said.

"Sound's like one of Barry's crazy cases." Eddie says.

"Yeah, which means, _He_ , might be able to help." Joe says.

"Are you sure, I don't trust him." Eddie says.

"He saved Chyre and helped with that, Toad guy. This sounds like something else he could help us with." Joe says.

"Have you told Barry about him yet?" Fred asks.

"No, not yet. Barry just woke up, that last thing he needs this soon after that is finding out we reopened his Mom's murder case." Joe says. But then all of their phones start ringing.

* * *

"So, what do you think of Eddie?" Iris asks. "You know, you cost him a date with me."

"Oh, he must hate me." Barry says, wincing. "If someone cost me a date with you, I'd hate them forever." But then a thought comes to Barry. "Wait, I thought you thought he was a jerk."

"I did, but when you were in the hospital, Eddie covered my father's shifts so we could both be with you. I just assumed he was doing it to suck up to my dad. I accused of him as much. Then he told me, he'd spent some time in a hospital himself. Alone. And how much it would've meant to him to have loved ones there. He wanted that for you."

"Oh, no, now I almost want you to go on a pity date with him." Barry said, but then quickly, wisely, held up his hand to stop Iris speaking. "Almost, but not enough."

* * *

After Mardon's attack.

* * *

"Iris." Joe yells, running as fast as he can to hug his daughter. Eddie, Fred, and David Singh

"I'm alright, Dad." Iris said

"What the hell did you think you were doing out here? I have told you when you see danger, you run the other way. You are not a cop."

"Joe, I need to talk to you. Now." Barry says, drawing not just Joe but Eddie and Fred's attention as well. "I know who did this. Who caused the pileup. It was Clyde Mardon. He's the one who's been knocking over banks this past week."

Fred was the first to react. "Clyde Mardon is dead. So is his brother. The night of the S.T.A.R. Labs explosion, their plane went down in the storm. Joe saw it burst into a million billion pieces."

"Clyde walked away from it. Something happened to him that night..."Barry paused, gathering his thoughts. "I think he can control the weather."

The three detectives look back and forth at each other, Barry's crazy not sounding so completely crazy to them.

But Barry thought the thought it was. "The crime scenes of the recent robberies, they all happened during freak meteorological events. Rain, high-speed winds, a hailstorm... none of which were being tracked. They just came out of nowhere. And when I just confronted Mardon, it was instantly enveloped in fog. I know this sounds impossible..."

"Look, Bar..." Joe said. How the hell did he say this?

"I think it's possible." Eddie said, drawing open mouth stares from everyone, including Barry.

"You do?" Barry asks skeptically.

"Well, maybe not controlling the weather, but maybe Mardon faked his death, or had a parachute. And maybe he planned to get away here and stashed a fog machine or something for a diversion or something."

Everyone was still looking at him strangely. "Well, it's either that or he can control the weather. What makes more sense, being theatrical to hide his bank heists, or he's evil Storm."

* * *

After leaving the crime scene, the four policemen head to an abandoned warehouse in the city.

"Something has happened." A voice said, suddenly, the door of the warehouse XXXslammed shut. The men turned around to face it, guns were drawn. "Over here."

They turned around again to see him, the Man in Black. "Why do you do that?"

"Sorry, old habits die hard." He said, his voice resonating around the room, making the already, rather scary voice, terrifying. "Now, what brings you?"

"Clyde Mardon, we think he might be alive, and possibly…" He was actually about to say these words. "controlling the weather." Singh said.

The Man shifted, giving the appearance of thoughtfulness, it was actually kind of scary how expressive he could be without showing his face. "Interesting. Weather manipulation is not easy. Have you any idea of the depth of his capabilities."

"Wind, fog, rain. Nothing dangerous." Joe said.

"Ha." He said. "Killer Fog was thick enough to block out the sun and killed 4,000 people in London in 1952. You are lucky he's an idiot. Give Mardon time, he'll eventually realize that with a thick enough fog he could bring this city to its knees. Or he could flood this city, blow ships right out of the harbor, blow cars off bridges." The Man says. "If he can do what you say, he could destroy the city if he wants to and is strong enough."

"How do we stop him?" Frank asked.

"You can't, I might." He then seemed distracted for a moment. "Maybe, I might have something."

"What?" Joe asked.

"I will see you later." And with that, the man disappeared into the shadows. The men got the message, they were dismissed.

* * *

Barry was angry, his idol had just told him he was basically a stupid child. So he ran to blow off steam, finally stopping in the middle of no ware.

"Ouch, that seemed a little harsh."

Barry turned around, almost getting whiplash from the speed of it. "You!"

The Man in Black stood in front of him. "Yes, how are you feeling."

"You're real?"

"Yes, how are you feeling."

"I didn't just make you up?"

He had apparently lost his patience as he went and punched Barry in the stomach, hard, causing Barry to double over and gasp for air. "Yes, I'm real. Now, how are you doing, other than possibly needing a new stomach."

"Well, my hero just told me I'm nothing more than a guy who got struck by lightning?"

"And what do you think?"

"I think he's right. So what if I'm fast, I couldn't save that man."

"Barry, you know who makes the worst doctors?" Barry shook his head at the question. "The one who cares. The simple fact about doctors is that by the definition of their job, they will fail, and people will die. The only way to keep going is to move on." He then waves his hands, causing some chairs to appear. "Barry sit down." And they both do. "There is something you need to know, about me. I'm not that old, at least, concerning the actual number of years I've lived, I'm barley over 30. But, for reasons I won't go into, I have the experience of over 500 years of life."

Barry was shocked. "I'm old Barry, ancient even. Over the years, I've learned one terrible thing. Move on. If you want to be a hero, you need to learn to move on. Don't count the dead, don't number your failures, because, in this line of work, you will lose count. You will fail, to save someone, to stop something, and if you can't get past it, more people will die. You will need to give up the luxury of outrage, of being able to mourn the dead. And the only consolation I can give you is that you do it so others can have that luxury." And then suddenly his eyes appeared, piercing, silver eyes, that bore into Barry's soul.

"One day, and it will come trust me. You will have to make a choice. Who lives, who dies, it will be to you to decide, and one day, you might be the one who doses the killing. One day, you are going to have to decide what is more important, your morals, keeping your hands clean, or a person's life. Now, if you can't handle that, then for your own sanity, and to not waste my time, get the hell out of my site. Being a hero is a dirty job, it's not about making the people love or trust you. The same individuals you protect will hate you and love you with the flip of a coin, will cry for you to save them with one breath, and call for your head with the next. All you can do is keep going through it all and hope that one day you can sleep at night with the belief you left the world a fraction better than where you found it because you won't get much more than that."

He then stood and extended his hand. "What do you say?"

Barry was floored, that was a hell of a speech. "I'm ready." He said, shaking his hand.

"Good." The Man said, and then he punched Barry in the face.

"What the Hell!" Barry yelled, before dodging a sword aimed to take his head off.

"Your training has just begun." He said, going for another strike, then another.

Barry quickly started using his speed, but even then he was barely fast enough to dodge the attacks, but after a few minutes, the man suddenly struck out and sliced Barry along the chest.

The pain exploded, and it left him open for a flying roundhouse kick to the chest. Just as Barry was getting up, He drove his sword into the ground next to his head. "You sliced me."

"You heal fast." He then waved his hand and healed the wound, shocking Barry. "You must learn to fight like your life depends on it, because one day it will." He then got down next to Barry. "But if you let me teach you, I will make you all but immortal."

* * *

Joe was at his desk when his phone rang. "Detective West."

"Mardon is at the farm." Black said, and then he hung up.

"Fred, Eddie, on me. Captain!" Joe yelled, getting Singh's attention. "The CI came through."

They were off.

* * *

"Why would Mardon come back here?" Eddie asked

"It's the first or the last place we'd look." Fred said.

"And criminals are creatures of habit." Joe said, drawing his gun, the others doing so a moment later.

Going through the door, they were shocked to see Clyde Mardon just sitting there. "Let me see your hands Mardon." Singh said, taking the lead.

"You found me." He said, way too calm for a man with four guns on him. When he saw Fred, his smile grew. "Well well, I figured you would have been dead, nice scar though."

That was enough as far as Joe was concerned. He moved to cuff him. "Please, resist arrest, give me a reason." He said, using a little more force than necessary when bringing his arms down.

"Joe." Eddie and Singh said.

"Alright." Was all Mardon said. And then the wind began to pick up, and all the cops realized at once that they were in big trouble.

* * *

Meanwhile, Barry was convincing Caitlin and Cisco that they had to do something.

"I've been going over unsolved cases from the past nine months. There's been a sharp increase in unexplained deaths, missing people. Your meta-humans have been busy. I'm not blaming you. I know you didn't mean for any of this to happen. I know you all lost something. But I need your help to catch Mardon. And anyone else out there like him. Barry looks to them. "Are you guys with me?"

Cisco is the first to speak. "This whole city's been angry and miserable since the accident. You might be the only good thing that came out of it. I'm with you, bro."

Caitlin sighs. "For the past seven months, I have been coming to this place. Where Ronnie died. I don't want anyone else to get hurt because of us. I need losing him to mean something."

"If you're going to do this... I have something that might help." Cisco says. Taking them to his lab, showing off a rather uninteresting red suit.

"What is it?" Barry asks.

"Something I've been working on. It's designed to replace the turnouts firefighters traditionally wear, I hoped it might help people forgive Dr. Wells if we did something nice for the community. It's made of a reinforced tri-polymer, it's heat and abrasive resistant, so when you're moving at high-velocity speeds, it won't shred like your regular clothing." Cisco says.

"At least you won't face Mardon naked." Caitlin says.

"The suit has built-in sensors so we can track your vitals and stay in contact with you." Cisco says.

"Okay, so, how do we find Mardon? "

"I've been tracking meteorological abnormalities over Central City. I just got a ping from the S.T.A.R. Labs satellite. Atmospheric pressure dropped 20 millibars in a matter of seconds."

"Where?"

* * *

Back at the farm (yes, I said it and stand by it), the cops suddenly realized just how much they were in over their heads.

Being thrown around like a rag doll in a wind storm will do that to you.

Joe and Singh had managed to pull Fred and Eddie out of the barn, only to be thrown to the ground, and they all look up to see then end in the form of the bloody roof of the barn being hurled toward them.

And then a streak of red crashes into it, taking it away from the cops, who are all gaping at the sight. Even more so when they see a man in a red suit appeared out of the destruction. He rips off his gas mask and zooms toward the tornado.

"Guys, can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear." Cisco says.

"As can I." Says another voice, startling Barry, because it's his voice. "Don't worry, they can't hear me."

"Barry, wind speeds are 200 miles-per-hour and increasing. If it keeps up, this could become an EF-5 tornado." Cisco says.

"How do I stop it? Guys?" Barry asks, but the others have no ideas.

"You could unravel it, running into the opposite direction." The Man suggests.

"What if I unravel it?" Barry asks the others.

"How the hell are you going to do that?" Cisco asks.

"Run around it - in the opposite direction. Cut off its legs."

"You'd have to clock 500 mph to do that."

Caitlin quickly jumps in "Your body may not be able to handle those speeds. You'll die."

"I have to try." Barry says, looking over to see his many co-workers stuck between looking at him in shock, and the tornado in fear.

Running fast, Barry went around the tornado, dodging as well as he could the stones and metal bits in the storm cloud. Mardon must have realized that something was up because he pushed harder and harder to keep the cloud going.

And eventually he wins, throwing Barry across the farm. "It's too strong."

* * *

Meanwhile, the cops were regrouping. "We have to stop this." Joe said.

"I'm open to suggestions." Singh said.

"May I give one?" They all turned to see The Man in Black standing there, holding out four crossbows and some arrows with strange looking tips. "Liquid nitrogen in the tips."

"Tornados need heat to work." Eddie said, realizing what he was suggesting.

"These might cool him off a little." He said, passing them out.

"Joe, you go east, Chyre north, Thawn West, I'll go south." Singh said, and everyone was moving.

* * *

Barry, having gotten his pep talk, ran, as fast as he could. He could feel the tornado weakening, but not quite giving up. But then he felt something cold and saw ice crystals forming. And suddenly the tornado gave way, causing Barry to once again bite the dust.

* * *

Joe, being the closest, ran over to check on the person who came to help them, and got the shock of his life, seeing his all but son Barry on the ground, in a weird costume, unconscious with his mask off. "Bar." Joe says before quickly checking his pulse and then covering his face back on.

His shock about Barry is short lived, however, replaced by a very different shock when he hears a gun shot and then feels an extraordinary amount of pain in his shoulder.

"Well, it was nice knowing you, detective." Joe turns to see Mardon's smirking face, gun ready to fire.

Only for The Man in Black to appear in front of him, taking the shots and then delivering a hard punch to Mardon's stomach, causing him to lose his gun.

Winded, Mardon looked at him. "You think you can kill God?"

"I've never met God, but I have a feeling you're not him." He then reached out his hand and began to drain Mardon of a small portion of his life force, hoping to weaken the man a little, while slowly walking towards him. "I have met many would be gods, demi-gods, even an Angel or two. It didn't end well for them either." He then paused for a moment. "Except for the Angels, of course, they were fine."

When he finished draining Mardon, He let the fool just fall down into the dirt, and turned away without sparing him a glance to attend to the Detective, only for the detective to raise his gun and shoot Mardon.

The Man looked back to see Mardon had gotten his gun again, one could guess, had not known when to give up.

"Thank you, detective." He said, walking over to the fallen officer. The others were coming, having been thrown for a loop when the tornado dissipated, still some distance away, but they would be here soon.

Acting fast, The Man in Black shook Barry awake. "Time to go."

Barry would have, but then he saw Joe, but before he could say anything, Joe did. "Run Barry, run."

Barry did as he was told.

* * *

"Who the hell was that?" Eddie asked.

"No one for you to concern yourself with detective." The Man in Black said, healing Joe's wounds.

"How the hell are we going to explain this to the press?" Singh asked.

"I don't know, post a doctored photo of Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez being back together on Twitter, say some celebrities are breaking up or having affairs, spread the word that someone famous is dying of cancer again. No one will look twice at the death of a murderous bank robber trying to shoot some cops." He said, standing up from a newly healed Joe. "Lay off on that arm for a week or two, you'll be fine." He says before walking away, taking his crossbows and arrows with him.

* * *

"Barry, Iris!" Joe exclaims, walking in with a sling around his arm.

"Joe!" "Dad!" They exclaim. Having heard about Joe being shot. Iris hugs her father, maybe a little too tight.

"My shoulder baby, careful."

"Oh, right." Iris said. "I'm just so glad you're okay."

"Me too sweetheart, me too." Joe says, before going to Barry and hugging him. "We need to talk. He says to Iris can't hear.

* * *

Later in Barry's lab, Joe and Barry were talking. "The lightning bolt, it did this to you."

"Yeah."

"Barry, there is something I need to tell you." Joe says. "A month or two, after you fell into the coma, we reopened your Mom's case."

"What?(?x1,000,000,000,000) Why?"

"Somethings have been happening, around the city, some people started to think that maybe your story about what happened that night wasn't so crazy. It was agreed that we would reopen her case, quietly, to see if there was anything to it." Joe says. "But I need you to promise me something. Promise that you won't tell Iris, any of this. Whatever is going on is dangerous, and I want her as far from danger as possible."

"Of course Joe."

* * *

"Well done on your first day." The Man in Black says, walking up to Barry as he stands alone out in the middle of no where.

"Thank you for helping Joe."

"It was my pleasure, Barry."

"Hey, what do I call you anyway? Scary-guy-in-black-with-a-sword seems like a bit of a mouth full."

"You can call me Mr. Black, a few of my friends and allies do."

"And which one does that make me?"

"I hope I'm your friend Barry, or will be one day." He says, and Barry can almost hear the smile in his voice. "You did good today, and you got a taste of this life. But I'm warning you, it won't always be this easy."

"You mean fighting a tornado?"

"I mean everybody living. That won't always be the outcome. So, if you want to get out, this is your last chance, because let me tell you, this life has a way of grabbing hold of you, and believe me, what it will take for it to let you go, or more importantly, you to let it go, you almost defiantly don't want to live to see that happen."

Barry thought for a moment but then realized there wasn't anything to think about. "Let's do this."

"Okay." Black says, before quickly drawing an arrow and firing at an already running Barry.

* * *

Latter, in a warehouse.

* * *

Al Sah-Him was standing alone, focusing his mind. He had felt strange ever since he drained energy from Mardon.

Focusing his all of his senses, he was shocked when a cloud of fog suddenly appeared.

On the floor, there was another note.

 **Drain Mardon.**

* * *

 **Well, there you go, chapter 3.**

 **Also, an amendment to the Author Rant up top. S5 still sucks. "I liked it (killing)". Really? I mean, Really?**

 **But, Slade is back, the real Slade, so at the risk of spoiling myself more than I already am about this season, I might just watch the finally because Slade freaken Wilson is back.**

* * *

 **Reviews,**

 **Guest: Yes, not enough OliverxNyssa for me either. All though, I have been noticing a trend of new stories starting, which I hope continues.**

 **Aryan229: Thank you as well. I'll be honest, I didn't even notice Waller calling him sir, but you're right, it is hilarious.**

 **Eva017: Sorry I didn't update sooner. I just spent a month in Europe, with no computer, only a tablet, so writing was hard.**

 **ssjmrxi: Oliver is not normal looking, in fact, he is always in this chapter and in the first one in wearing a kind of almost full body black scarf that I will get to more on later. With a black coat over it. In the second chapter, Nyssa and others see his mostly dead form, and Nyssa sees him when he is healed to the point of being nearly alive, like he only died a minute or two ago, which is when he can father children. But mostly he is in a state of being only a few days dead. Bloated skin, hair loss, paleness and discoloration of the skin, with maybe a maggot or two crawling around, but most haven't seen without the full body outfit yet.**

 **So to answer you question, Oliver still looks dead, just not like he's been dead for months.**

 **Guest: 1st, Oliver isn't gay, yet there is Oliver and Slade/Tommy/Malcolm fanfic. And, Malcolm in any relationship is weird. I don't read that fic because I don't like it, and I don't complain about it on reviews. This is fanfic, it doesn't matter if in this one medium Nyssa, an established character of the greater DC universe, is gay. 2nd While they me only be married in the eyes of the LoA in show, Nyssa has stood by Oliver throughout their whole marriage, this next episode being an example. 3rd Arranged and/or forced marriages actually fail less often than what we would call normal marriages. Because they have no option other than to make it work, they do more often than not in those relationships. It almost makes me wish that, other than in certain circumstances like abuse, there was a penalty of some kind, like a fine or something, for getting divorced, it might make people want to stick around and work things out if that were the case. 4th and final, shut up, make an account, or have the guts to use your account instead of hiding behind being anonymous.**

 **PoshK1tty: Thank you as always, I would have had this one out sooner, but I was in Europe. A piece of advice, if you ever get the chance, go see the Sistine Chapel, buy a ticket to skip the lines and just go and stare at it for a few hours, it is so worth it.**

 **Stegro88: Thank you, and at the risk of having a pot meet ketal moment, how's 'Heir Apparent' going, because I believe I speak for everyone in the OliverxNyssa fandom when I say, we love that story and miss it.**

 **Guest: Thank you.**

 **Sexybutcreepy: Technically, Oliver is a member of the undead, just don't tell poor Martin, he has a phobia.**

 **Chunk127: Thank you.**

 **bellapom: Thank you.**


	4. Chapter 4: Catching Bullets

**I'm sorry to my other valued readers, but unfortunately, there is something I need to address.**

 **To the annoying Guest that seems to want to turn the review section of this work into a YouTube comment war, shut up. We aren't first graders here, and if anyone who is reading this is, it's rated T and up, so I'm not sure if I should ask you to leave or not.**

 **1** **st** **. So what if Kreisberg and Guggenheim say she's a lesbian? Really, so what. I'm not them. This is fanfic. And, if you think I was them, I'm a little insulted.**

 **From the beginning of season 3, they have yet to write a good relationship. Felicity is an idiot who thinks that because she is the fiancé of the (accidentally) absentee father, that she has any say in how William is protected, and I really hated that in the finally, Samantha seemed to agree with that idiotic claim.**

 **Speaking as someone who does not have a stepparent, it seems to me that it is something of a blurred line what decision involving a stepchild that person has any say on. Ranging from important things like whether or not they be allowed to discipline the kid, to the childish argument of whether or not they even be allowed to speak to the kid.**

 **But I think we can all agree that a fiancé of the (accidentally) absentee father has fundamentally no standing at all.**

 **Then there is Diggle and Lyla, a marriage fraught with arguments because Diggle is, to be honest, a little hypocritical about the methods his wife uses.**

 **I would mention the other relationships on the show, but, luckily or not, we don't see enough of them for them for us to be invested in them.**

 **2** **nd** **. It's fanfic; people make Harry Potter have god-like powers, Oliver/Malcolm or Oliver/Slade fiction exist, even Thea/Oliver fanfic exists. One day, far off in the distance from now, maybe someone will make Twilight fanfic that is good. (I forced myself to read some for a school project, it was not pleasant.) I even once came across a piece where James Bond kills Elmo. (Yes, that really exists, it's called "Bond meets Elmo", and the fact that it exists both amazes and disturbs me.)**

 **To be honest, I ABSOLUTELY HATE the idea of Elsa/Anna Frozen fanfic. They are sisters, it's weird, and it's a Disney kid's movie, why does this exist? And how did it become so popular? I Just don't get it. Personally, I'd think Olaf/OC, or just Olaf fic would be the most popular.**

 **But, I don't try and turn the review section of that fic into a war over whether or not this is a "proper" representation of a character, and even if I did, I would have the guts to use my account.**

 **3** **rd** **. Nyssa is an established character in the DC universe, she is 200ish years old, actually had a family, they got killed by Nazis, and she was made barren by experiments. Maybe this is that version of her. (It's not, but my point is that there is a version of Nyssa who is not gay.)**

* * *

 **Now, one other thing. Have you have ever watch** ** _Leverage_** **on TNT, if you haven't you should. In the opening to season 2, Sophi, a character who can grift but not act, there is a difference, is putting on a play the sound of music.**

 **It is so awful that a reviewer of the play says "** **Never before has a production of The Sound of Music made me root for the Nazis** **."**

 **I never thought I would be using that comparison so aptly now. Because I rooted for the Dark Arrow/Overgirl, I really did. If it wasn't for the fact that little detail about being Nazis, I would wholly endorse writing a story where they win and kill, well, everybody.**

 ***Sigh***

* * *

 **Now, onto our story.**

* * *

"Today's lesson Barry, guns." The Man in Black said to Barry Allen, once again in the middle of nowhere.

"I have super speed, how would a gun help?"

"I never said you would be using one." He said, pulling out a Glock 18. "The G18, a personal favorite. 17 round standard mag, 31 or 33 extended mag, or even a custom 100 round mag. 9x19mm rounds, fire rate of 1,200 rounds a minute, with a muzzle velocity of 360 m/s and muzzle energy of 490 joules, effective up to about 50 meters away, I can hit a target with ease up to about 75 meters away. In other words, this is the gun you wish you could bring to a gunfight, in close quarters there is no substitute."

"Um, nice," Barry said, still confused.

"I'm glad you like it." Mr. Black said, having lowered the gun, then he suddenly fired it, hitting Barry in the leg. "Consider that your motivation not to fail." He said as Barry collapsed to the ground in pain. "Your lesson for today, avoid getting shot."

"What happened to arrows?"

"What are the odds of you fighting someone, other than me, who has a bow?"

"In Starling, they would be pretty high."

Mr. Black's only response was to reshoot him. "If you ever end up on the wrong side of those vigilante's arrows, baston, or especially the swords, run really fast to anywhere else." He said. "This is the gun to use for close quarter combat, which is what we are training for." Black then motioned to the ground and a glowing purple rectangle, about 25x35 feet, appeared around them. He then shot at it, and to Barry's amassment, the bullets bounced off of a translucent purple wall above the line. "First the open floor plan, then we will move on to obstacles." Black waved his hand at Barry, causing the wounds to heal instantly.

Barry was about to thank him, but then he saw the gun being raised at him and decided to get moving.

At first, he did rather well just running around in a circle. But then he felt a bullet hit home. "AHHH!" He yelled, he then hit the ground and then the wall, very hard.

"You have super speed, but that doesn't mean you can just run in a circle, someone just has to keep firing at the same spot," Black said, he then reloaded and healed Barry. "Think this time."

And then the bullets started flying again, and Barry had to jump up to avoid them.

This time he ran in a wild pattern around the cage, zigging and zagging up and around the cage, but eventually, he got hit again.

"This isn't working." Barry groaned.

"Well, at least your learning something," Black said. "Barry, what is this?" He motioned to the walls of the cage.

"A box," Barry said, somewhat sarcastically.

"Very good. It's a big open box, with nothing to hide behind. Your fast Barry, but that doesn't matter. Force is mass multiplied by acceleration, and acceleration is the change in velocity divided by time. That means that unless you are running directly away from the bullet at equal or greater speed, it will hit you, and it's going to hurt."

"So your saying I should run away."

"No, you idiot. First, you can't run far in here, second, there are a lot of guns that can fire bullets a lot faster and farther then this one, and third, how are you going to take the guy down if you run away? No, what else can you do?"

Barry was drawing a blank.

"Really, and here I thought you liked comic books. Tell me, Barry, how would a superhero, in the most heroic way possible, handle heavy gunfire, that doesn't involve just standing there letting them bounce off harmlessly, as we have established that that won't work for you."

Barry had to think for a long moment; then he laughed in disbelief. "You want me to catch the bullets."

Black just smiled. "Yes. But not head on." Black then stuck up his hands, having the pointer finger of the right hand pointing at the flat palm of the left. "If you run up to a bullet going… 700 feet per second, at a speed of 600 miles per hour, that being around 733 feet a second, and catch it head on." He then pressed his finger against his palm. "All you will do is have a bullet hit, and then go through your hand at 1,433 feet per second." His finger then pushed through his hand and out the other side, causing Barry to shudder at the sight of some light brown liquid flowing down the cloth around the man's hand.

"Okay, how do I avoid that?"

"By catching the bullets from the side." He withdrew the finger and moved his hand to beside the finger. "If you are fast enough, you can catch the bullet, in a light hold so that the spin doesn't burn you, trust me, the heat will be bad enough. And then redirect the energy…" He grasped his finger lightly and directed it to the side. "And hopefully it won't hit you," Black said, and Barry could hear the smile in his voice.

Black then stood up and pulled his gun back out. "Now, try again." And he fired, and while Barry managed to last a lot longer, he inevitably ran out of space to back up, so Black stopped and reloaded. "Flick the bullets away, don't try and grab them, just deflect them." And then he started up again.

* * *

After training, Barry got a call from Cisco saying there was a fire happening at an apartment building Western and Third in downtown Central City, so he headed right for it.

He might have overshot the target by about four blocks, but he was still learning.

"Cisco, there is fire everywhere," Barry yelled from inside the burning building. When he got no response, he tried again. "Cisco, what do I do?"

Still nothing.

"Mommy?" A little girl called from inside the flames.

"Get everyone out of the building," Black said, coming in from the coms. "Once that is done, spin in a circle as fast as you can, the vortex will funnel all the flames to you while creating an air pocket around you that should keep you from burning."

Barry did just that, and before the fire trucks got there a minute later, the fire was out, and everyone was safe if maybe a little confused.

"Woo!" Barry yelled a few blocks away. "Cisco, what else you got for me?"

"Barry." A very angry, not Cisco, but Caitlin said over the coms.

"Hey, Caitlin."

"Get back to S.T.A.R. Labs. Now."

Barry sighed, but he was going to do as he was told, but only got a step before feeling dizzy.

But he recovered before running off.

* * *

"Who the hell do you think you are, you idiots." Caitlin asked, angrier now then she was a minute ago if that is possible.

"Well, I'm the eyes and ears, and he's the feet." Cisco said.

"This isn't funny. You could have been killed putting that fire out. You can't be running around the city like some supersonic fireman." Caitlin said.

"Why not? This is what we talked about: Me using my speed to do good." Barry said. "Plus, wasn't that suit designed for firemen?"

"We talked about you helping us contain other people who might have been affected by the particle accelerator explosion. Meta-humans. And aside from Clyde Mardon, we haven't found any."

"People in this city still need help. And I can help them. We can help them."

"Will you please say something?" Caitlin said, looking over Barry's shoulder to Dr. Wells.

"I think what Caitlin is saying, in her own spectacularly angry way, is that we are just beginning to understand what your body is capable of. Not to sound like a broken record, Mr. Allen... I do caution restraint."

"Dr. Wells..." Barry began, but then he heard Black talking over the coms to him.

 _"You can't run before you walk, say that,"_ Black said, Barry hesitated. _"Just, trust me."_

"If… if you would pardon the phrase, you can't run before you walk," Barry said, interesting Wells and Cisco.

 _"These little runs, going out and stopping fires, purse snatchers, getting cats out of trees…"_

"These little runs, going out and stopping fires, purse snatchers, getting cats out of trees…"

 _"They teach you how to use your powers. You wouldn't expect a cop to learn how to use their_ _gun in the middle of a shootout, or a mountaineer how to climb mountains on Everest."_

"They teach me how to use my powers. You wouldn't expect a cop to learn how to use their gun in the middle of a shootout, or a mountaineer how to climb mountains on Everest."

 _"So, what's the harm in some, slightly more realistic practice runs? After all, you can only learn so much from doing simulation or experiments in a lab."_ Black finished.

"So, what's the harm in some, slightly more realistic practice runs? After all, you can only learn so much from doing simulation or experiments in a lab." Barry then finished.

Wells looked considerate for a minute. "I suppose, some, practice runs, would be okay."

"YES!" Barry and Cisco cheered before high-fiving.

"But, why not stick to cats in trees and, unarmed, purse snatchers, for now. Work your way up to burning buildings and Everest." Wells then wheeled away.

"Don't expect me to patch you up every time you break something," Caitlin said, still angry.

"Hey, uh... Anything happen out there today? The sensors in the suit were kicking back some weird telemetry, like your vitals spiked for a few seconds." Cisco asked.

"Never felt better."

* * *

"Hi, sorry I'm late," Barry says running, at normal speed, into a crime scene.

"A little fall shopping Allen?" Fred asks, pointing to the tag on the shirt.

"Oh, sorry," Barry said, and Eddie grabbed the tag and yanked it off. "Thanks."

"How are you so observant at a crime scene, but you miss a tag on your shirt?"

"I was rushing this morning. I wonder what you call jet lag when you get it from an 8-month coma."

"You, as usual," Singh said, looking at the security footage, showing one masked man break in. "Looks like one guy."

"Well, maybe on the footage, but there were six," Barry says pointing to the footprints. "See how they all overlap. Six sets, six guns, you're looking for a crew." He then got down closer to the ground. "Weird…" He then looked around. "Captain, can I borrow your foot a moment."

That comment raised some eyebrows. "What?"

"Just, come here for a second," Barry said, motioning the man over, who reluctantly complied. Barry then grabbed his leg and moved it over one of the prints, then another, then another. "Whoever these guys are, they all have the same shoe size, men's 10, the same gate, even the same tread on the shoes."

"So, what, we're looking for a group of six identical, sextuplets, with the same taste in shoes?" Fred asked.

"I guess. Or just six people who are all the same height, weight, and shoe size."

"What are the odds of identical sextuplets existing?" Joe asked.

"I don't know, but I bet they would be easy to find."

* * *

"I hate you," Iris said, walking into Barry's lab.

"What?"

"I could have taken European folklore to cover my sociology requirement, but no. You said, "take journalism, Iris. Reporters have all of the fun." Guess what, Barry? Reporters have none of the fun. Journalism is boring. I'm bored. I blame you." Iris said but then noticed Barry was not looking at her eyes. "What? Why are you staring at me like that?"

"You look really nice." Barry said, giving her a kiss.

Which, of course, caused her to smile. "Thanks. Why don't you look nice?" She asked, only to receive a blank look in return. "This afternoon? Suit and tie? The University is giving Simon Stagg..." She prompted, trying to get rid of the blank look.

"Simon Stagg?" Barry asked, still clueless, earning a smack on the arm. "Ouch."

"Yes, Simon Stagg, The University is giving some big award to him. And you agreed…"

"To explain the science stuff for your article. It's all coming back to me now." Barry said, still rubbing his arm.

"How fast can you get home and change?"

"Uh, pretty fast." Barry said, grabbing his coat and heading for the door.

But then Eddie walked in. "Hey, Allen. Joe asked me to see where you're at on the evidence from the gun store shooting." He said but then noticed Iris. "Oh, hey, Iris, you look nice."

"Thank you, detective." Iris said, letting her unhappiness at Barry bleed through a little, causing Eddie to take a step back.

"What did you do?" He asked Barry.

"Doomed her to a term of boredom at the hands of journalism teachers," Barry said. "From what I can tell, there has never been a case of six identical children being born. So looks like we are looking for some kind of gang, maybe some kind of group who believe in a very particular type of human form."

Eddie had, what can only be described as, a very amusing looking facial expression going. "So what, a group of Nazis that are not only racists but height-ists and shoe-size-ists…"

"Maybe shoe-ists." Iris said.

"What about size-ists." Eddie said.

"Okay, enough you to. I don't know, but all I know is that we aren't looking for identical sextuplets.

"I will inform the captain," Eddie said, walking out, but down the hall, he yelled back. "I'll tell him you think their height-ists."

* * *

"I find it quite remarkable, having once been a timid freshman at Central City University, to be standing before you now, the regents choice for man of the year. While I very much appreciate the award, the real honor for me is knowing that my work in organ transference helps give people a second chance at life. Thank you all very much for coming." Simon Stagg said a man that seemed to enjoy the spotlight despite saying otherwise.

"Okay. All right, first things first..." Barry said, now looking a lot more dressed up, jumping in to give Iris all of the relative information. "Simon Stagg's work in cellular cloning has led to huge advancements in the future of organ replacement..."

"Are journalists allowed to drink on the job?" Iris said, eyes intensely focused on the champagne.

"Ok if you are bored already wait just until we get to the science behind cellular regeneration." Barry responds, taking the two glasses out of her hands as Iris laughs lightly.

"I have missed this, Barry. I feel like we haven't spent much quality time together since you woke up from the coma." She admits.

"What. We have kissed, and hugged, and… looked at one another with, general senses of longing… Ok, maybe I have been a little distant the last few weeks."

"See, and while I love being with you and kissing and stuff…"

"And, and 'stuff'?" Barry says with a particular slapped fish quality.

"If you're good, maybe." Iris said, seeing Barry look like a kid who just got told he was getting a puppy, a cross between stunned disbelief and unrestricted joy. "Shut up." She hit him for good measure. "I just wish we could hang out more like we used to. You know, just seeing each other for five minutes between, whatever hectic thing is going on."

"I'd like that." He nods as Iris spies her chance to actually get some journalism done.

"Oh, oh. Mr. Stagg, I was wondering if I could get a quote from you for my article?" She calls as he passes her, hoping to get something other than boring, nerdy science stuff to add to her article.

"Not now, miss." His bodyguard responds for him as he is lead away causing Iris to sigh.

"I'll just make something up." She shrugs it off as she smirks at Barry, just as gunfire sounds out causing everyone instantly to drop to the floor.

"Quiet down, all of you!" The man yells as Iris clutches to Barry's arm, who leads them both slowly down to the floor.

"Quiet!" The man with the gun snaps again, glancing at the masses of people.

"How considerate. You're all wearing your finest jewelry, almost like you knew we were coming to rob you." He remarks smugly. "Now everybody line up!" He commands as people slowly begin to get to their feet and get in line, throwing their most valuable jewelry into the bags the other members of the man's crew hold out expectantly.

"Don't, don't." Iris holds Barry back when it appears as if he is going to advance on the thieves.

"FREEZE!" A brave security guard suddenly yells with a gun in hand, as he races into the room causing the thieves to stop and turn on him, almost unnaturally in sync with one another, all with guns in their hands.

"Drop your weapons." The guard continues, but a great deal less confident upon seeing six guns aimed at him.

The thieves' fire their guns instantly, and again they are freakishly in sync with one another. Barry using his speed to pull the guard out of harm's way and into another room before racing after the robbers who had run the instant they watched the unknown red flash pull the guard away from what would have been his death.

Speeding after the robbers, Barry almost makes it to the van when the crippling dizziness hits him again causing him to collapse against the building's dumpsters as the truck zooms away.

Only this time, the dizziness causes Barry to fall into a state of unconsciousness.

* * *

Barry. Barry. Barry." The insistent voice of Iris pulls Barry from unconsciousness, who sits up abruptly to find her sitting beside him.

"I turned around, and you were gone. What happened? Are you okay?" She questions.

"Yeah. Yeah. I'm fine. I went after them to try and get the plates and, ahh." He brings his hand up to his face, feeling what he assumes, from experience, is a bruise from an impressive right hook. "They decided to give me this for my troubles."

"Oh, baby." Iris says, giving it a kiss to make it better, and then immediately slaps his arm.

"Ouch." Barry yelps.

"Never do anything so recklessly brave and stupid again, or you won't have to worry about any armed gunmen." She says sternly. "Come on. We need to go inside. The cops are already here." She helps him up, leading him back inside the building and toward Joe and Frank, with Eddie taking statements.

"Hi." Iris smiles at them.

"Where were you?" Joe glances at Barry, worried at the bruise on his face.

"Dad, go easy. I found him outside; he decided to chase down the gunmen before getting clobbered." Iris explains for him.

"Do you want me to get you a paramedic, Allen?" Eddie questions.

"No, I'm fine. Thanks, Eddie." Barry gives him a kind smile.

"Fine. You look bloody awful." Frank retorts from behind him.

"Charming really." Iris folds her arm, fixing him with a glare.

"Just stating the facts." Frank shrugs as they all tune into the conversation between the guard and other officers.

"I thought I was dead. I saw the gun go off and then boom! Suddenly, I am outside. I have no idea how I got there." The guard admits.

"Let me talk to you for a second." Joe glances to Barry, a displeased look on his face.

"Yeah." Barry nods.

"Good luck." Frank pats him on the shoulder before leaving with Eddie. Barry follows Joe.

"You chased those gunmen?" He mutters once they are out of earshot.

"They must be the same guys that knocked over the gun shop earlier today." Barry replies.

"And what were you going to do when you caught them, huh?" Joe folds his arms. "Ask them nicely to pull over? You're not bulletproof." Joe then suddenly looks very curious. "Wait, are you?" He queries.

"No." Barry says to confirm, deciding not to mention his lessons in bullet catching, yet.

"Okay. No more heroics. Chasing bad guys is not your job, it's mine. You're not a cop, promise me." He looks to Barry strictly.

"Promise." Barry sighs like a petulant child.

* * *

"You lied to us!" Caitlin Snow all but snarls as Barry sits on one of the beds while being thoroughly checked over after going back to STAR Labs and reluctantly admitting to them all about his dizzy spells.

To say Caitlin was furious with him would be an understatement.

"How could you not tell us you're experiencing dizzy spells? We are your doctors! God knows what's going on inside your body. Your cells are in a constant state of flux." She yells as she moves to stand in front of him. "You could be experiencing cardiopulmonary failure or a transient ischemic attack!" She yells medical jargon at him rapidly.

"Heart attack or mini-stroke. Probably not." Wells kindly translates for him.

"You of all people should know that in science, we share. We do not keep secrets." She snaps before walking away, Barry wincing slightly from the power behind her rage.

"Wow. I haven't seen anyone make her that angry since Ronnie." Cisco says as he passes an iPad to Wells before moving off to help Caitlin, from a safe distance of course.

"Ronnie was Caitlin's fiancé? The one that died the night of the accelerator explosion?" Barry glances to Wells.

"Yeah, he is… missed." He says shortly, sort of giving Barry the impressions that Ronnie is not a subject to mention or speak about, ever, especially in Caitlin's presence. "Now let's figure out why this is happening to you."

* * *

"We are all set!" Cisco cheers as Barry frowns at the number of cardboard boxes packed sky high in front of him. "A little padding just in case." Cisco says before Barry can say a word.

"Yeah." Barry nods as Cisco heads out of the room, leaving him alone as he approaches the treadmill in the center of the room.

"You sure about this Cisco?" Barry calls.

"Most home treadmills have a maximum speed of about twelves miles per hour. This one has been Ciscoed. Trust me it can handle your speed." Cisco smiles at him through the glass.

"Okay." Barry sighs nervously before beginning to jog, his jog slowly turning into a run, then speed when Wells gives permission to proceed.

"Heart rate, blood pressure, nerve conduction all normal." Caitlin notes.

"For Barry." Wells reminds her.

"Brainwave function within standard limits." She continues.

"Heh. Told you the treadmill could take it." Cisco grins happily.

"Caitlin, look at the glucose levels." Wells nudges her as it all dawns on her instantly.

"Oh, my god of course!" She sighs.

"Right, glucose levels." Wells nods.

"It was so obvious." She shakes her head in disbelief that she didn't see it before.

"Barry, we think we know why you keep…" Barry suddenly stopping mid-run from the low glucose levels and go flying backward, hard, into the cardboard boxes with a resounding thud, the impact causing the cardboard boxes to explode in a cloud of, packing foam. Causing everyone to wince in sympathy at how painful that probably was, or would have been without the boxes.

"Passing out."

* * *

"Cisco, you are staying until that is all cleaned up." Wells said with a little anger.

"Oh, come on, it saved him from hitting the wall didn't it."

"Yes, it did, while also spraying foam all over the lab. Do you know how hard that stuff is to clean? We will be finding little pieces of foam in the most random of places for months after this. And then every five years from now a single piece will turn up somewhere."

Caitlin was enjoying Cisco getting yelled at, didn't instantly notice Barry's hand moving.

"Woah." Barry groans as he comes back to the land of the more-or-less-living, putting his hands over his eyes to shield them from the bright light. "Did someone get the number of that truck?"

"Yeah." Caitlin said. "It was called total metabolic failure brought on by acute hypoglycemia." Caitlin informs him.

"I'm not eating enough." Barry guesses as Caitlin nods. "So an IV bag and I'm good to go?" He queries as Cisco just laughs and directs him toward the many IV bags left hanging from a stand.

"Try forty. Guess you were thirsty." Wells calls to him.

"We're going to need to fashion you a diet based on your metabolic changes." Caitlin informs him as they move past him.

"I've gone a few calculations you need to consume an amount equal to roughly eight hundred and fifty tacos unless we're talking cheese and guac which is like a whole other set of equations." Cisco moves back toward his desk.

"For Mexican, I recommend Tito's on Bruckner Avenue." Joe West calls from the door. "Best burrito in the city." He continues after a moment of stunned silence has passed.

"Detective West, what brings you to STAR Labs?" Wells questions.

"When I couldn't find you in your lab, I started doing a little research, turns out there have been reports of a red streak around the city. Stopping muggers, rescuing people from burning buildings." He folds his arms as he moves to stand in front of Barry.

"You didn't tell him we were working together?" Wells enquires as Barry looks down, shaking his head once to Wells before looking up again.

"Joe, I can explain…"

"You already have a job in law enforcement, Barry. I suggest you get back to it." He growls.

"Mm-hm." Caitlin nods in agreement; Joe fixes her with a stern glare. "Don't look at me. I'm on your side." She protests.

"Detective, we all want what's best for Barry." Wells starts.

"If you wanted what was best for Barry then you'd try and talk him out of this lunacy instead of encouraging him going out there and risking his life." Joe snarls at him.

"You saw a man control the weather. What are the police going to do against someone like that?" Barry cries in protest to silence from Joe, except another, somehow angrier, glare.

"Since the accelerator explosion, we suspect there may be more like him." Barry admits.

"And you're going to do what? Catch them? Are you insane? You think because you can run real fast that you're invincible?" Before Joe could continue, Barry ran over to him and took his gun.

When Joe saw what he had, and him taking aim at the dummy with the flash suit, he and the rest were too shocked to yell, except for Cisco who saw someone pointing a gun at his baby.

"Wow, wow man!" He yelled.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

There would have been more yelling, but everyone was just too shocked at what they had just seen.

Barry fired the gun at the dummy, then let go, ran around in a circle to in front of the path of the bullet, caught said bullet, ran and put it on the counter, and then ran back before the gun had even begun to fall and fired again.

So before anyone knew what the heck had just happened, 15 shots had been fired, with 15 bullets caught and placed on the counter in a nice orderly line.

"How about that." Barry said, putting the gun back in Joe's holster before walking, at a normal speed, away.

* * *

"I hope you don't mind the shiner I gave you." Black said, walking over to Barry sitting on the concrete walkway leading into the abandoned warehouse where they train.

Barry looks at him in surprise. "You punched me?"

"Well, saying you got knocked out by the robbers is probably better than whatever lame excuse you were going to come up with." He says, causing Barry to look offended. "Oh stop, you were going to say something like how you fainted or something, right."

Barry did grudgingly have to admit that that had been what he was about to say before feeling the bruise on his face. "Your dad will come around." Black said.

"He's not my father." Barry said, more on instinct than anything else.

"I'm just, going to pretend you're still recovering from passing out and ignore that comment." Black said, coming to sit next to Barry. "My father was not a good man. He was a good father, most of the time, but a lousy man, and not a good husband." Black said, gaining Barry's instant attention. "Your father was a good man, and considering how loyal you are to him, I would guess he was a pretty good father as well. But that doesn't mean Joe isn't your dad. He raised you, clothed you, fed you, and he didn't have to do any of that, I'd say that earns him something."

Barry just sighed. "I know, I just… I know my father is innocent, that he is in jail right now, serving a sentence for a crime he didn't commit."

"And you want to break him out." Black said.

"Yeah." Barry said.

"Well, okay," Black said, jumping down to stand in front of the still sitting Barry. "Tell me, how would you do it?"

Barry was honestly surprised by the question. "I'd run in and bring him back out before anybody even saw us."

"Ok, then what, where would you hide, what would you eat, how would you support yourselves? Paint me a picture, tell me what life will be like when he is free, and you are both on the run" Black asks, already knowing the answers, he continues after a moment when Barry doesn't answer. "You are not mad at Joe, you're not even mad that your father is in jail. You are mad because, despite all the power you have been given, you're still as helpless now as you were then to help your father."

"You stink at pep talks, you know that right."

"Barry, I told you day one that sometimes there will be people you just can't save or things you just can't or won't do. Unfortunately, this is one of them, and it is hitting you a little below the belt because it is about your father. You do not have many options and those you do. Frankly, they suck, and I mean they really suck. But you have a choice. You can either…"

"Focus on what I can't do or don't have, or I can focus on how I can use what I do have and can do to make it work." Barry said.

"I little Saturday morning family values cartoon I know, but they do have a point." He said. "Also, showing off like that might not have been your best move. The wonderful thing about knowledge kid is no one knows how long you've had it or if you even have it until you show them. How long do you think it will take for one of your friends to wonder just where did you learn and/or get the idea to catch bullets."

"I could tell them I only did it because I was angry, that I didn't know it would work."

"Oh, so, tell them that you are reckless, shortsighted, and lack a clear understanding of both risks and cause and effect. Brilliant."

Even without looking, and also if he had looked the mask Black wore would have blocked anything, Barry could feel the look on blacks face. Half sarcasm, half judgment, with a little 'are you crazy' sprinkled on top. "So then what should I do next time?"

"Grin and bear it, talk less, smile more, etc.…" Black said. "You need to remember Barry, Joe was right earlier. Now, he sees things from one extreme of the spectrum, mainly that just because your fast, your not invincible, which is totally correct by the way. And you see it from the other extreme, that being that who, if not you, could handle these people with these powers, also a totally correct point."

"So what do we do?"

"See the merit of both. You need to remember that your not trained for this, yet, and even then all it will ever take to end you is one thug with a lucky shot that you don't see coming because you're to busy zipping around to kill you. And Joe needs to see that while he, the police, hell even the army, for all their training, are badly, if not outgunned, then defiantly outclassed, so they need you to help them. So the next time you see him, try and find common ground."

"But why not tell him you are training me?"

"I have my reasons."

* * *

"Hi, Joe." Barry says as Joe walks into the lab. "Look, about what happened…"

"We will talk about what you did in a while, right now you need to know that Simon Stagg's head of security was murdered last night. The coroner took some skin samples. Hopefully, they belong to the killer." Joe hands Barry the file.

"Can't be a coincidence, Stagg's benefit was attacked last night." Barry points out.

"I'm going to interview Stagg right now." Joe responds.

"I'll come with you." Barry decides.

"Your job is in here. Stay in here and do it." Joe snaps as Barry rolls his eyes at him.

"Hey, dad." Iris calls as she enters the lab.

"Hey, baby gotta go." He gives her a brief hug before heading out of the lab.

"Why is my dad mad at you?" She looks toward Barry who finished putting the cells into the machine.

"Work stuff." Barry murmurs before looking at her. "Why are you mad at me?" He queries.

"You were supposed to meet me at Jitters to give me some scientific background for my article." She growls.

"And I didn't show up." Barry sighs upon realizing his colossal mistake.

"And now I have to come up with a new article topic in twenty-four hours, or I fail the assignment." She continues.

"Iris…"

"Don't say that you're sorry, okay? I know that you are. What I don't know is what is going on with you. We grew up one bedroom down from each other. Do you honestly think that I don't know when you're happy, or sad, or depressed, or lost? We have been together for a month, and you don't seem very excited. I'm gonna ask you one last time, Barry and you better be honest with me." She growls.

"I just, I…" Luckily, the alarm for Barry's machine went off.

Saved by the bell, Barry can't help but think to himself.

"That's. That's impossible." Barry says when looking at the results.

"What, all I see is squiggles on a screen?" Iris murmurs, suddenly interested, but still angry.

"There was a murder last night. These skin cells belong to the murderer." Barry informs her. "But these cells are naïve. They're Stem cells. They can replicate and become any cell the body needs. But they only come from infants."

"So this means what? Your killer is a newborn?" Iris asks.

* * *

"You honestly think someone wants to kill me?" Simon Stagg questions.

"Well, we're not sure, Mr. Stagg but at the event, you were being honored at was robbed at gunpoint." Eddie points out.

"And your head of security was found murdered this morning." Joe continues.

"I am a scientist and a philanthropist. We're not often the targets of assassins." He notes.

"What about lawsuits? You've got about twenty of those pending against you." Fred asks while he shakes a stack of envelopes at him.

"Yeah, it is a sad fact of life, detective, that when you earn a lot of money, people who haven't think they can take yours." He murmurs.

"People like this guy, for example? Danton Black?" He holds up a picture, which Stagg takes.

"Danton Black." He remarks.

"You fired him, and now he's suing you." Joe points out.

"Unfortunately, our working relationship wasn't successful, but I can assure you both of one thing. Danton Black is not a killer. He's a clinical researcher, not a criminal mastermind. Now, if I can help you in any way, please let me know." He nods as he moves past the detectives. "I want these people caught just as much as you do…"

"Then here we are." The voice of Danton Black snaps from behind him multiple times as three men begin to shoot at Stagg.

"DOWN!" Both Joe and Eddie fall instantly, pulling Stagg to the ground and behind a set of canisters as the men keep approaching, firing their guns as they do. Fred ducks behind a shelf and returns fire, only to have to pull back in the face of overwhelming numbers.

* * *

Barry moves down the staircase, frowning at the commotion and hurried voices he hears instantly.

"Additional units are on their way!" He hears someone shout through a radio.

"Captain, what's going on?" Barry queries as he sees Singh putting on a bulletproof vest.

"Not now Barry, an armed gunman's shooting up Stagg Industries," Singh explains in passing as it hits Barry suddenly.

"Joe's there." He whispers and without a second to waste he speeds up to his lab he grabs the bag with the red suit inside…

* * *

"Get him out of here. We'll cover you!" Joe growls instructions at Eddie, who moves even closer to Stagg, ready to run on Joe's word.

"Ready? Go." Joe commands, him and Fred firing at the men approaching them while Eddie leads Stagg away and toward the nearest exit.

Joe and Fred each manage to shoot down one of them.

Yet suddenly the one remaining splits into another identical copy of himself, once again three versions of Danton Black advancing on Joe and Fred. Firing their guns at him.

Suddenly in a flash, all their guns are disposed at their feet by Barry.

"Go." He commands when he's at Joe's side.

"No." Joe starts but soon finds himself and his partner outside, while Barry returns to face the Danton Black.

"Well, that's new." Fred said. Both men then look at each other, and with a silent nod, turn to try and open the door, which is unfortunately locked tight.

* * *

"Whoever you are, give yourself up." Barry faces the men bravely.

"Sorry. We're not going anywhere." Danton retorts.

"Until Simon Stagg is dead." All three versions speak simultaneously.

In one move, Barry knocks them all to the ground.

But then Danton splits into three more versions of himself. Barry looks on in shock before engaging them all in combat, punching one and causing two others to multiply out of the copy. Another one hits Barry from behind, who grunts in pain before continuing to fight, except he cannot stop them from surrounding, beating, kicking, and punching him over and over again before throwing him into canisters.

Groaning, Barry attempts to sit up, only to see every edition of the man holding their guns at him.

 _TWANG!_

Suddenly all of the Dantons are disarmed of their guns and turning to look when one of them is suddenly dis-armed. ( **I know, and I will still not apologize** )

The Man in Black is their, kicking away the one who lost his arm, before a roundhouse kick to one and a punch to another sends them flying across the room and with a loud thump into the wall, then slashing his sword in a wide arc, forces the other duplicates to jump back or be disemboweled. He grabbed Barry, still groaning from some probably broken ribs, and got him out of the building. Somewhere where Joe and Fred weren't.

* * *

"I'm sorry. The abrasions are already rapidly healing." Caitlin says as she applies a swab of disinfectant to his wounds.

"Yeah, I got my ass handed to me." Barry grumbles.

"You got blood on my suit." Cisco remarks, annoyance evident in his voice.

"I think some of it belongs to him." Barry says, a little defensive. "Another not so friendly metahuman." He mutters as Wells brings up information on the meta-human Barry had fought.

"Danton Black. He's a bio-geneticist. Specialized in therapeutic cloning, growing new organs to replace failing ones." He explains to them all.

"Apparently Stagg stole his research and then fired him." Caitlin adds.

"I saw Black create duplicates from his own body." Barry gets to his feet.

"That's pretty ironic. The guy specialized in cloning, and now he can make Xeroxes of himself." Cisco notes.

"If he was experimenting on himself when exposed to the dark matter wave, released by the accelerator explosion..." Wells says.

"Meet Captain Clone!" Cisco cuts him off, yet winces when he sees the looks Barry, Caitlin, and Wells give him. "Don't worry. I'll come up with something cooler."

"Where are you going?" Caitlin calls after Barrys starts to leave.

"Joe was right. I'm in way over my head, yeah, I'm fast, but I'm no warrior. I could barely fight one Metahuman let alone six." Barry admits before moving toward the door.

"Barry. I understand, today was a setback but any grand enterprise has them, and we can never learn to fly without crashing a few times." Wells says with a slight smile.

"This wasn't a grand enterprise, Dr. Wells." Barry mutters as he continues moving toward the door. "This was a mistake."

* * *

"Dear heavens, a quitter." Barry hears when he enters his apartment.

"I don't remember giving you a key."

"I can teleport, you think that honestly rather subpar lock, could keep even a modest thief or me out?" Black asks, coming to sit down with a drink in hand.

"No, please, help yourself to my beer."

"It's not for me." He says, holding the bottle out to the idiot. Barrys eventually takes it, drinking a big swig before sitting down himself. "Ever watch Princess Bride Barry?"

"Yeah." Barry says like it's the stupidest question ever.

"My wife didn't see it until about three years ago." Black says, causing Barry to sputter a little. "Remember that scene, when Anton is fighting Wesly and is telling him about how you fight eight or ten guys differently then you fight just one?"

"Yeah."

"Very true. You fought Danton like he was one guy, which, technically, isn't true. When you fight one guy, you focus on singular direct attacks. A strike to the throat, the kidney, side of the head, high impact and high results. When you fight more than one, you need an area of effect. Long arcs with a sword vs. a jab, a roundhouse kick vs. a side kick, or just good old running away in the hopes you can face them later in a situation with better odds." Black lists off. He lets the silence hang in the air for a minute. "You're not ready, your right, nowhere near ready to fight Danton and win. But, I find that life rarely ever cares for us being ready, one way or the other. You are, however, a lot more ready then any of those cops who might try and stop Danton, Mardon, or anyone else like them."

Barry was about to say something, but then his phone went off.

* * *

Barry sped back into S.T.A.R. labs, stopping to come face to face with Danton, getting between him and the others with his best, 'angry face.'

He doesn't do angry faces well.

"Barry it's okay." Caitlin says.

"It's not okay! Black is here, and he's... Just… standing.. there. That's not him, is it?" Barry sighs.

"It's one of his replicates." Wells says.

"How did you get him."

"I grew him." Caitlin says. Causing Barry to give her a 'what' look.

She then walks over to one of the screens and pulls up a model of her experiment. "I isolated a sample of Black's blood from your suit to see if I could trigger the in-vitro cultivation process and learn how Black multiples. So I exposed the target cells to a protein gel, and it replicated into that."

"Why doesn't he, it, doing anything?" Barry queries.

"We did a brain scan. Involuntary motor functions are active. Little else." Wells replies.

"We think it's acting as a receiver." Cisco continues.

"The clones are an empty shell without Black. Shut down the real Black and you might shut them all down." Caitlin informs him.

"How do we know which one's the real Danton Black?" Barry ponders.

"That occurred to me given your own passing out. Black has limits, just like you. Controlling all of those clones must require a tremendous amount of physical strength. So look for the one showing signs of weakness of fatigue. He's the prime." Caitlin smiles.

"It's just a theory, but one you might want to put to the test, Mr. Allen." Wells adds.

"Plus, I whipped up these high-calorie protein bars for you to keep your metabolism up." Cisco passes him a bar as suddenly Caitlin shrieks as Black's clone begins to move, caus=ing everyone to back away, but it doesn't get far as the clone is shot down by Joe West.

"Any more of them?" Joe asks.

"Nope." Caitlin says, still a little freaked out.

"Why did it start moving." Barry exclaims.

"The prime. My guess is the prime is on the move, this one heard the summons to battle." Wells shrugs from his chair.

"And I know where he was summoned to." Joe says as he holsters his gun. "Stagg Industries."

"You should call it in." Barry retorts.

"Police can't fight this." Joe shakes his head as he looks at Barry. "What Black's become, like Mardon... Beyond me. Maybe way beyond them too." He glances at the others in the room before returning to Barry. "The only person that it's not beyond is you." Joe says firmly."You gotta do this. I get it. So for once in your life, do what I tell you to do!" Joe instructs him as a small smile crosses Barry's face at Joe's words."Go stop him."

"Thank you." Barry nods as Joe gives him a smile, and sharing a knowing glance with Wells as Barry begins to walk toward the red suit.

* * *

"Get me those figures by morning, okay." Simon says before hanging up the phone.

In the meantime, Danton sends three of his clones up an escalator to be met by two security guards.

"Freeze." One says as they both cock their very large automatic weapons. "Don't move."

Simon looks up from his papers at the sound of gunfire before going to the door, only to hear more shots.

Leaving his office, he finds two dead security guards…

And three Danton Blacks.

"Hello, Danton."

"Goodbye Simon." He says, raising his gun.

Simon lifts his hand up like he's about to beg for his life, but is cut off when Barry speeds in and takes Simon back to his office.

"Stay here." Barry yells to a confused Simon, sho then leaves to face Danton.

* * *

Barry wooshes down into the lobby to see seven Dantons moving about the different levels of the building. "I know Stagg stole your research." He yells, gaining all of their attention. "But that doesn't give you the right to murder."

Danton's response is to fire a shot at Barry, that he expertly catches. He then runs forward, focusing on just knocking the clones over and disarming them rather than a direct assault.

Barry rushes up to the second floor to scope out the room but turns when he hears someone coming. "You think this is about my job?" Danton asks with a gun pointed at Barry. But before he can fire Barry pushes it out of the way and, with a yell, holds him up against a pillar. "This is about Elisabeth."

"She was my wife." Another says, firing a shot that Barry again catches, before punching out the clone he had traped and then knocking out the other one.

"She had a degenerative coronary disease." A random Danton said. "She'd been on the transplant list for years. But, time was running out." He said as they search for Barry.

Who was currently hiding behind a pillar.

"So if I couldn't get her a new heart." A new Danton said.

"You were going to grow her one." Barry finished, drawing the attention of two Dantons who each fired, but Barry got out of the way, and so they hit each other.

"I was so close, until Stagg stole my research. SO he could reap the glory, and I got to bury my best friend." Another Danton said. "Now…" He lowered the gun as if realizing the irony of his next words. "I'm alone."

Barry took the opportunity to crash into that one, knocking him to the ground, but when he looked up, he saw the prime.

The only problem was he multiplied into a mob, and suddenly he was surrounded by a hundred Dantons. Before he knew what was happening, they had ahold of him and were, to put it plainly, beating the ever-loving snot out of him.

 _Twang_.

Suddenly an arrow hit the ground near Barry, drawing the attention of a few Dantons.

 _Flash._

A blinding light exploded from the arrow. The Dantons let go in favor of covering their eyes, so Barry ran to higher ground, he hoped at least it was higher ground as he fell a few moment later because he was also temporarily blinded by the flash.

"Barry, you need to isolate the prime." Caitlin said over the comms.

"There are a lot of them, I'll never find the right one." He said, trying to blink away the field of white.

"You just need to look for the one showing fatigue." Wells said.

Barry turned around as his vision started to return, only to wish it hadn't because he turned to see, a thousand at least, clones marching toward him.

"There are literally a thousand of them."

Suddenly another arrow came from above, hitting one of the Dantons in the shoulder.

Barry looked up to see Black on the balcony. "How about him." He yelled down.

Barry didn't need to be told twice. The clones were stumbling after the prime had been hit, so Barry ran, jumping up, he jumped along the army, bouncing off the heads of clones, like some crazy Saturday morning cartoon.

When he finally reached the one with the arrow in his shoulder, he grabbed him and took him up to the top floor. Smacking him hard into a metal pole that vibrated from the impact.

Barry looked down to see the whole army down for the count.

"Barry… Barry are you all right?" Joe asks over the comms.

"I'm fine." Barrys says, gasping for breath. "I'm fine. It's done."

But then Barry hears Danton running and moves just before the man would have tackled him.

But Danton crashes through a window.

Barry speeds over and catches him before he falls. "Hang on." Barry grunts.

"No." Danton says, before growing another arm that starts to pry Barry off of him.

"Don't." Barry asks, but he can't stop Danton from falling to his death.

Barry just looks down in horror, before standing to leave.

* * *

On the ground, Danton is coughing up blood as he takes his final breaths.

"I must admit, I'm a little disappointed." Black says, dilating time, so the mans last seconds are, for Black at least, minutes. But he gets no response. "I really need to remember that others can't hear me when I'm like this. Talking to yourself is a little cliché." Black says, still technically to himself, as he kneels down to look at the man. "You don't even know I'm here."

* * *

An hour or so later, Barry and the gang are watching the news.

"Central City police officials are now confirming that Danton Black attacked…."

"I tried to save him."

"Doesn't sound like he wanted to be saved." Wells said. "Some people when they break… they can't be put together again."

"Some people heal even stronger."

"I hope so." Wells says, causing Cisco to look at Caitlin with a concerned look.

Barry just nods in agreement before patting Wells on the shoulder.

"Well… at least, Multiplex, won't be able to hurt anyone else. Told you I'd come up with a cool name." Cisco says, triumphantly putting a sucker in his mouth, causing them all to smirk.

"I may be the one in the suit doing all the running, but when I'm out there helping people, making a difference, you're all out there with me." Barry said. "I finally realized something… we were all struck by that lightning."

* * *

"Barry, you sicken me." Black said, looking at the three, now thankfully empty, pizza boxes. "Pepperoni, olive, and jalapenos, really? Some things should not be consumed."

"Come on, it's good."

"Yes, separate. Never together by themselves. Why not go for a supreme pizza, your half way their anyway?"

"I don't like mushrooms period, and onions just don't work on a pizza."

"You're killing me."

"Thank you for helping me, I don't think I could have done it without you." Barry says, wanting to express his thanks and shift the conversation.

"I think you might have, not as fast, but I think you had a chance."

"Well, thank you for everything."

"Of course Barry, of course."

* * *

 **Hello again all.**

 **Two things. Slade has been great this season. And sorry about not updating sooner.**

 **ButtonPusherExtraordoinare chapter 1 – Thank you for your review.**

 **Spawn Hades chapter 3 – Thanks as always. By the way, I deleted the guest reviews that were arguing about whether or not I could write Nyssa with Oliver or not.**

 **But, just to check, let's see.**

 ***Spoiler for the next update***

* * *

Black walks into his warehouse but stops a moment when he feels something is off. But after a moment he just laughs and walks forward until he is under one of the beams holding the roof up.

"If this is your attempt at sneaking up on your old man, I might have to put you in a time out."

He then turns, arrow drawn, and fires, disrupting the little bird from her perch. He then darts forward and catches her in his arms. "Got you." He laughs before tickling his helpless victim.

"DADDY! STOP! PLEASE! I YIELD!"

"You yield, and you call yourself an Al Ghul." Oliver says. "Are you sure you're my daughter?"

"Yes, daddy." Tayir Jamil said.

"And where is your mother my beautiful bird?" He asked before leaning down close to her face. "Is she hiding behind that pillar with a ready arrow?"

Before she could answer, her father threw her into the air, spun to catch the arrow, throw it back the way it came, intentionally missing of course, and then turned back to catch her again.

He then turned back around one more time, ready to catch his wife's lips with his.

When they finally parted, much to their daughter's relief, Oliver spoke. "Well, I have had better greetings."

* * *

 **Yep, seems I can, in fact, write Nyssa with Oliver. For a minute there, I was worried my hand might cramp up or something if I tried.**

 **.10 – Here is another update.**

 **Aryan229 - Thank you.**

 **GIANTPANDAMAN – Thank you.**

 **xNaruHina chapter 1 – Sara was using inspiration from a line from the 'Usual Suspects' great movie, you should see it. She is also practicing the Machiavellian ideas of well-employed cruelty, or conquests by "criminal virtue", read about it in Machiavelli's 'The Prince'. Basically, you can either kill one man publically by being drawn and quartered, or 100 men can die quietly in a dungeon. If people see you mean business now by utterly destroying a rebellion, then it saves you from having to put down 10 rebellions latter over the years and not living long enough for your reputation to recover.**

 **And Oliver isn't a sub, he is showing someone who literally holds his life in her hands some due respect.**

 **xNaruHina chapter 2 – Bad choice of wording on my part. Oliver wants Nyssa to be merciful to him, not have him killed, or in his case thrown out, for overstepping and kissing her.**

 **He also doesn't want her to give him a pity kiss, or love him because she feels sorry for him.**

 **ssjmrxi – Thank you.**

 **Sparrow Night chapter 1 – Plans are being planned, and all shall be revealed in the fullness of time.**

 **Basically, there is a lot your not supposed to figure out yet. For instance, why has Oliver taken an interest in Barry? And why, even if all of this and the last chapters events are taking place a month early, is everything proceeding like normal?**

 **There is a method to my madness.**

 **LazyKid24 – Thank you, and Barry not telling Iris has its reasons, namely Joe thinking that her being as far from this as possible will keep her safe. But also Barry has lost all sense of ordinary in his life, except Iris, so he wants to keep a hold of that if he can.**


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